The Return of Mr Minkus
by Nina Matthews
Summary: Minkus is back and he is seeking revenge on Cory. He threatens him with news that could destroy the life he and Topanga have made. Will their marriage last? Please R&r this is my first fic!
1. On the plane

Disclaimer- I don't own the Boy Meets World Characters! I wish I could but...I don't. Please R&R! I totally accept flames! Remember though, this is fanfiction so I have a right to say what I want!  
  
Chapter 1- The Return of Minkus  
The tall blond man sat staring out the window. His deep blue eyes looked out the window, as if he would find comfort in the fluffy clouds. He was a handsome man, about twenty one. His deep blue suit was in good condition, with gleaming silver buttons on the cuff and running down the side. The man's leather suitcase shone with recent purchase. A gold nameplate shone on the front reading:  
Stewart Minkus, Attorney at Law  
Looking at him, Angela wondered what he was thinking of. He had not spoken the entire flight, which lasted about two hours. What was a man like Stewart Minkus doing going to Pittsburgh? Especially in leaving New York City?  
Probably visiting family and friends, like me, thought Angela. She had reccently left for Europe, but she had the opportunity to return, so she seized it. She wished to see all her friends. Sean, especially. He had been so upset when she went with her father to Europe. Angela knew he wouldn't take it well when she made her decision, but she had to go. She knew in time Shawn would get that. What Angela didn't know, was that Stewart Minkus knew Shawn as well. And was going to see Shawn, Cory and Topanga at that moment.  
It had been three years since Minkus had seen Cory, Shawn, and Topanga. In those years he enjoyed the time spent away from the two men who had caused him such grief in middle school. He was a different man now. Gone were the days of sweater vests and glasses. He was a musclar man now, the object of many girl's affections. A few months ago, when the package was delievered to him, Stewart Minkus knew what he must do.  
His personal private investigator, Frank, located Cory almost immediately. He never left Pennyslavina, this caused Minkus much joy. While he, Minkus, had gone out to see the world, Cory stayed at Penbrook.  
Cory's sheltered life would be ruined by the news Minkus brought and the package had carried with him. It would destroy everything he had loved. Why do this? Revenge of course. Because of Cory and Shawn's endless taunting, Minkus had been sent to a psychatrist for his high school career. After all his sessions, he realized he could be a powerful man. His genius could be trained into something great. Minkus headed off to Yale after high school and graduated early with honors in Law. He knew what he was going to do was legal, since he knew the law like the back of his hand.  
It wasn't as if he, Minkus would kill him, no, much better than that. His life gone, Cory would have to leave Pennsylvania. He might even have to see a shrink. In the days before his flight, he kept picturing Cory's expression when he would walk in and see him. Better yet, he thought of Topanga's. His matters really dealt with her, after all.  
Minkus heard from his P.I. that Cory married Topanga right out of high school. That didn't surprise him. Not at all. After all, they were so close in high school. Well, most of the time.. Then again, their arguements seemed to happen alot. Good relationships have few arguements, thought Minkus with a smirk.  
"We're about ten minutes from landing. It's about 65 in Pittsburgh, partly cloudy with a chance of rain later in the day. Please give your trash to the flight attendents as they come by. Put your tray tables up and put your seats in the full upright postion. We expect a bit of turbulence coming in." the captain's voice crackled over the intercom.  
The woman next to him got a cellphone out and dialed a number. "Shawn? This is Angela. My flight's on time, we'll be landing shortly.."  
Minkus looked over at her in surprise. Shawn Hunter, perhaps? One of his tormentors? This must be the Angela Minkus had seen him with. Shawn always treated his women with such indifference. They never meant a thing to him. Minkus was proud of himself at not treating his admirers like that. He learned from Shawn's mistakes. Then again, Shawn had made a scene with Angela in high school. Minkus briefly wondered if they were still together. Probably not. Shawn always had issues. Considering his trailer trash past and all.  
Angela hung up the phone.  
  
"Excuse me, did I hear you talking to Shawn? Could that be Shawn Hunter?" Minkus questioned, with a look of sincerity.  
"Why yes. Do you know him?" Angela said.  
"You could say we go way back," laughed Minkus.  
"Alright. He's meeting me at the airport, you should say hi," Angela offered.  
"I'm going to stop by later on. Would you mind not mentioning me? I'd like my visit to be a surprise," Minkus instructed.  
"I'm sure Sean will like that." Angela responded.  
"Yes, I'm sure he will," Minkus surpressed a manical laugh. He found himself laughing every time he thought about his encounter with Cory. Only time kept him from bearing his news to the happy gang of his past.  
  
End of Chapter 1 Please R&R! Its my first fic!! 


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer- I don't own BMW As Mercedy Aria pointed out, I've been spelling Shawn wrong. Sorry! I'll try not to do that any more. ^_~  
  
Chapter 2- Introductions  
Angela and Minkus talked for the remainder of the flight. They found they had a lot in common, like their passion for classical music. As they gathered their things, Angela said, "Make sure you come around to see everyone when I'm there.I'd like to see you again,"  
"I'll try." Minkus promised, with a false grin. This was going to be easier than he thought. He wondered briefly if Shawn had kept his promise by coming to pick up Angela at the airport. Minkus doubted that he had.  
His beliefs were confirmed when he stepped into the terminal and found Angela sitting their looking upset. Her eyes continually scanned the waving crowd of mothers and relatives but she seemed to not find what she was looking for.  
"Excuse me, Ms. Angela, but do you need a ride back to where you are staying?" Minkus offered casually.  
"As a matter of fact I do. It seems Shawn has forgotten to pick me up. I just called him a few minutes ago..." her voice broke up and she looked away.  
"I have a car waiting in the rental office, if you wouldn't mind staying for a few extra minutes so I can pick it up," he said.  
"That's very sweet of you, Stewart.Thanks," Angela replied.  
"It's really not a problem. I was going to go today to see Cory and Topanga anyway. I'm sure Shawn's with them, he always is, isn't he?"  
What Angela didn't realize was that Shawn was there. He jogged in shortly after she and Stewart began talking. He glared at the man she was with. The man with Angela seemed so cocky and sure of himself. Angela looked like she was charmed by him. Too angry to speak and thinking Angela had brought home her fiance, Shawn stormed off. How could she do this to him?  
Angela and Minkus started walking down to the bagagge claim together. "Yes, he and Cory are such good friends." Angela commented.  
"I'm sure you and Topanga are close to?" Minkus asked politely.  
"Oh yes. We found ourselves hanging out a lot during our last year of high school and first years of college." Angela responded.  
"Yes, you were at Penbrook, correct?" Minkus questioned.  
"For my years, yes. Then I decided to go to Europe, with my father. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. I mean, I missed Shawn and all, but I really was able to get close to my father." answered Angela.  
They had reached the bagagge claim. Minkus spotted his suitcase and grabbed it quickly. "This is it for me. Do you see your bags anywhere?"  
Angela looked at him in amazement. "Is that all you packed?"  
"I don't plan on staying too long," Minkus smiled.  
"That makes sense." Angela returned. She started to move towards her bag. Minkus spotted it first and pulled it off for her. "Thanks," she said.  
After he collected all of her things, they set off towards the rental agency. While they waited for the shuttle Angela said, "Its funny. I've only known you for about thirty minutes but I feel like I've known you for years."  
"If only you knew how true that was," Minkus said to himself. "I get that a lot," he said to her. She smiled and a look of apprehension washed over her.  
"Now that I think about, you do look familiar. Have we met before?"  
"I don't think so, Angela. I grew up around here though,"  
"Oh, okay," she replied, still trying to place his face. Finally she shrugged it off. The shuttle came and it was a short time until they were riding towards Penbrook.  
"How long have you been away from Pennslyvania?" asked Angela.  
"Since after high school. I decided that I had to get out of state. Did you get that feeling?" Minkus asked.  
"No, not really. I've lived in Pennslyvania a long time." she responded.  
Minkus nodded. "I've never been to Penbrook. Would you mind showing me where to turn off?"  
"Sure. You have to take the next exit after we get out of the city."  
"Okay." Minkus did as he was told, and under Angela's careful instructions he arrived at Penbrook. Waiting outside the apartment, Minkus was overcome with a feeling of excitement. The look on Corey and Topanga's face was becoming more and more vivid. Soon, the look would be memory, not the figment of his diabolical imagination. Minkus patted his coat pocket knowingly. The paper felt so crisp, so ready to be shown to Cory.  
"Are you coming?" Angela asked.  
"Sure. I'll be in a second.You go first," he said.He watched nodd and walk in.  
Angela knocked on Cory's door, grinning. Shawn opened the door, looking angry.  
"Where's is he?" he demanded.  
"Hello to you to Shawn. I'm glad to see you."  
"Shawn, give Angela some room. You haven't seen her in a few months," Corey said, pulling his friend out of the way to give Angela a hug. Topanga hugged her too.  
"We've missed you so much," she said.  
"I've missed you guys too," she replied.  
"Listen Angela, you can't walk in here acting like you've been gone for a week. Where's the guy you were with at the airport? I saw you together!" Shawn yelled. Cory gave her a puzzled look and Angela opened her mouth to explain.  
"I'm right a here," a voice said from the doorway, that took everyone's eyes off of Angela.  
"Minkus?" asked Corey, disbelievingly.  
  
End of Chapter 2  
  
Please r&r! Its the right thing to do! 


	3. Reunion

Chapter 3- Reunion  
"Of course its Minkus. Its always Minkus," Stewart snapped, walking in and placing his briefcase on the table. He glared at all of them. They hadn't changed since high school. He changed, but they had stayed in the same state, kept the same friends, had the same life, well almost. He supposed the change of scenery had provided some change, however minor.  
"How did you find us?" Topanga questioned, grabbing Minkus' arm. Her eyes searched his desparingly.  
Minkus looked into her eyes and laughed. "It wasn't that hard. I traced your wedding annoucement. You see I've been looking for you for a few months now. I have some..er business to take care of."  
Angela looked between Corey, Topanga and Minkus. "So how do you know each other again?"  
Shawn replied, "Minkus was the class nerd in middle school. We gave him a hard time,"  
"Shawn! That's not very nice. You could have tramutized him! How could you?" demanded Angela, stepping over to Minkus' side.She narrowed her eyes at Shawn.  
"We were twelve years old! You couldn't blame us either, Minkus was pretty weird," Shawn argued.  
"I'd like to step in and defend myself here," Minkus snarled,"I was a genius in sixth grade. Just because I didn't great C's and D's doesn't mean I was a freak. Is it wrong to enjoy getting an education?"  
"I thought Stewart was a nice young man," Relena interjected.  
"Well honey, you were pretty weird back then too," laughed Corey.  
"Excuse me?" Topanga demanded, turning to Corey.  
Corey's smile faded. "I mean you were one of kind with your one-with- nature kick,"  
"One-with-nature kick? I was perfectly balanced in sixth grade. Unlike you who was too busy comparing which X-Men were the coolest." snapped Topanga.  
"Again, we were tweleve!" yelled Shawn.  
"People, people, we're getting off subject here," Minkus said, over the din of the arguement.  
Everybody calmed down. Topanga started to look nervous and hoped that Minkus hadn't brought what she thought he brought. Why else would he show up, so many years later. She tried to calm herself, but it was impossible. She felt Corey's eyes on the back of her head. He was worried about her. His concern wouldn't last for long, she thought. Trying to clear her mind, she thought back those many years ago, in the summer after her junior year. Going away to camp, she said. I'll be back at the end of the summer. It was the longest time she had really spent away from Corey during their relationship. He had been so upset back then. It must have been a hard summer for him, Shawn went away too. His dad took him across the country in their home.Topanga shook her head. She had to focus on denial. Whatever Minkus said, she would deny it. If only she could keep him from saying it.  
"Stewart, I think we should all go out to dinner, to celebrate our little reunion." she suggested, with a false smile.  
"I'd rather..." Minkus started, got a little off guard by this sudden suggestion.  
"That's a great idea," Angela agreed. Shawn and Corey did not look thrilled.  
"I'll go get my purse. Maybe we can head over to Chubby's," Topanga said, with a smile.  
Minkus looked alarmed, and amused at the same time. Chubby's? The old hangout from high school?  
"I'm just teasing. There's a nice Italian restuarant a few blocks from here. We can walk," she laughed.  
While everyone else gathered their things and began leaving, Corey followed Topanga into their room. She stood in the bathroom holding the sink. It looked like she was about to cry.  
"Are you okay, hon?" Corey asked gently.  
Topanga nodded her head, and released the sink. She tried to smile."I'm fine,"  
"Good," Corey answered, smilingly grimly. "I wouldn't want anything to be upsetting you." He put his arms around her. She seemed to melt into his arms.  
He felt her tears fall onto his sweater. They rocked back and forth for a few minutes before she said, "We better go catch up to the others,"  
"Yeah," Corey answered. He reached for her hand but she pulled away. The small gesture hurt him, and he wished he could solve her problem, whatever it was.  
Topanga hurried out the door to catch everyone else. She glanced up at the sky. Clouds had moved in, black threatening ones. She hoped it wouldn't rain until they reached the restuarant.  
Up ahead, Minkus and Angela discussed politics while Shawn trudged along, hands in his pockets. He kicked at some stones on the pavement. He wished Minkus would leave. Angela had come back from Europe wanting to see him, not Minkus. Angela didn't even know Minkus. How could she do this to him?  
They reached the restuarant just as it began to drizzle.  
"How many will be in your party?" questioned the waiter. Even though it was still early, the holding area was already crowded.  
"Five," Minkus answered.  
"And what name will it be under?"  
"Minkus," replied Minkus.  
They all sat down at the bar, each thinking to themselves. Shawn angry, Angela entranced, Minkus impatient, Corey worried, and Topanga upset. Who knew what dinner would bring for this old group of friends......  
  
~End of Chapter 3~ I'm sorry this took so long for me to publish! I've been really busy! Please R&R! Tell me what you think! ~Nina Matthews~ 


	4. Minkus party of five

Chapter 4: Minkus Party of Five  
  
Topanga sat down at the bar, a little distance away from the table Corey had chosen. She ignored her husband's questioning look, she needed to think at the moment. It was hard enough to pretend she wasn't bothered by Minkus, but having Corey knowing something was wrong was ten times worse. Surely she would crack if she had to endure another conversation like the one in their bedroom.  
It was moments like this, Topanga wished she was old enough to drink a martini, or something alcholic. She had heard from her aunt that it calmed the nerves, made things seem a little out of focus. Topanaga wished for things to be out of focus, just until the end of dinner. Then she could face the issue with Minkus. She hated him then, more than she had ever hated anyone else. Burying her head in her hands she wished that Corey could have been nicer in the sixth grade and that the thing in her junior year had never occurred. It seemed like a nightmare then, and now, the nightmare had come home. A part of Topanga knew that she could have never kept it a secret, that someday she would have to tell Corey. Someone would call or some medical record would come out..something would have happened to bring the whole situation into light.  
Topanga tried to recover her senses.She sat up a little taller, and then realized, for the first time that Minkus sat next to her. His eyes gleamed maliciously at her. He had probably been sitting there for awhile.  
"Are you worried, Topanga?" Minkus asked  
"Stewart, why are you doing this? Why to Corey? It's between you and me, isn't it?" she pleaded, looking for that ray of kindness in his eye, that she had always liked about him. She could not find it, and she knew she had been defeated.  
"I believe I have been through this with you, Topanga. Perhaps not the beginning though. I was in Pittsburgh a couple of months ago, on a business trip. On my way to work one morning, I passed by, let's call it a home, and then the reason for me coming here found me. Trust me, I did have some debate about what to do about it, and I returned to New York for a spell. I finished one of my big cases and then had a little bit of time on my hands. I knew that my miniature vaction could not be wasted so I decided to come back here to share the news," Minkus finalized. He sat looking intently at her for a moment.  
Topanga's pulse sky rocketed and she could feel her eyes brim with tears. Her voice caught in her throat.  
"Perhaps you need to think this over for awhile. Let me buy you a beer," Minkus offered, and he even smiled as if nothing was wrong.  
"No thank you Stewart. I am too young to drink," she protested, and began to rise from the table.  
"Your husband will not be too pleased with my news. I plan to tell them all after dinner. I wouldn't want to make a scene in public," Minkus added.  
"Can't you wait? I want to talk to Corey before that," Topanga requested.  
"Because I used to love you, Topanga, I'll grant you one hour between the end of dinner and my annoucement." he bargined and then he walked away.  
She sat there, knowing that the thing she had to tell Corey would take more than an hour. Maybe she could just let it god and deny it when Minkus announced it. Corey wouldn't believe her anyway.  
"C'mon honey, we're gettin' seated," Corey called, and she dutifully followed him.He stayed back behind the group, and held on to her arm.  
"You sure you're okay?" he questioned.  
"Actually, I need to talk to you after dinner," she managed.  
"Sure," Corey answered and sat down next to her. After they ordered their drinks, they all sat in silence again.  
Then Minkus and Angela began discussing Europe while Shawn sat in moody silence. Topanga stared straight ahead, focusing on the picture on the wall. It was a happy picture, a green pasture with a little white picket fence. There was a young girl standing next to the picket fence smiling. The sun seemed to be shining, all was right with the young painted girl's world. Topanga felt a stab of jealousy. She wished to God that Minkus had never come and that all was right with her world.  
Their drinks came by shortly, and they all ordered their meals. Minkus and Angela found that they had similar tastes in Italian foods and ordered a large plate of fetticuni alfredo, Shawn and Corey both got spagetti, and Topanga asked for a house salad. She needed a light meal because her hunger had evaporated.  
"So, how's everyone doing?" Corey asked, looking around the table.  
"I'm doing good, Corey." Angela answered him, smiling brightly.  
"Yeah, I'm doing real swell. I sort of have this back ache though," Shawn snapped, glaring at Angela.  
"Now what's that supposed to mean?" Angela demanded, turning on him.  
"Ever since you came here you've been all over him," Shawn had a little difficulty saying 'him' since he was referring to Minkus.  
"Shawn Hunter! If I had known you would have gotten jealous (after all this time) I wouldn't have come here!" Angela protested.  
"I'm not jealous! And if you and Minkus had soo much in common why don't you two just leave! It would make everyone a lot happier!" shouted Shawn.  
Several tables turned and stared at them. Shawn was beet red in the face, Angela was giving him a look of pure loathing, and Minkus sat there placidly, almost amused.  
"I'm afraid we can't leave," the latter responded cooly. He turned his gaze over to Topanga.  
Corey watched in confusion. "What in the heck in going on here? Why does he keep doing that?" Corey questioned.  
"Oh you'll see, Matthews," sneered Minkus, becoming more and more amused by the second. It seemed that the more Topanga looked away, the more Minkus grew excited by his news.  
"I want to know now!" Corey insisted. And Topanga shot him a pleading look. She didn't want this to happen now, not here, not in public.  
"Well, if you really want to know, I suppose we can't be cruel and hold this back for you. I believe Topanga has something she would like to say," replied Minkus, his smile covering his whole face.  
All eyes turned to Topanga, and a short silence ensued. "I..I..." Topanga stuttered. She felt herself begin to shake. Her lips couldn't form the words, and a buzz was ringing in her ears.  
"Stewart and I...we...had a baby," she finally made out. 


	5. Topanga's Story

I'm soo sorry I took so long writing this! I've been on vacation! I promise the next chapter won't be far off! Thanks for reviewing!!! ~Nina matthews  
5: Topanga's Story  
  
The silence was deafining, like a roar of waves crashing onto a beach. She cleared her throat and began. "It was our junior year...  
  
~Four Years Ago~  
  
"Have a nice Christmas vacation, class," Mr. Turner said, closing the book. The bell had just rang and everyone was rushing for the door. Corey, Shawn and Topanga stayed behind. They walked more slowly this time, savoring their last moments together before the break. Shawn was going to be with family in the trailer park, Corey would be heading up to see his grandparents in Connecticut. Topanga would be remaining with her family, her aunt would be coming in on Christmas Eve.  
"I'll call from Granny's house," Corey promised. He looked into her eyes, she seemed to not want to meet his.  
"You don't have to Corey. Just enjoy your break. It's only a few days." she insisted. He was always trying to be so caring.It sort of got on her last nerve. Everything he said and did got on her nerves it seemed. It was all she could do to keep from screaming at him, or worse yet, doing something to him to show she didn't need his constant surveilance. She could scarcely have a girls night out without him becoming defensive or hurt. Her friends missed her and she was beginning to ache for the freedom of being single.  
"Okay, if you don't want me to call, I won't," Corey answered, sounding hurt.  
"Actually Corey, I don't want you to call. Not once. You act like we can't breathe without each other, I know I can breathe when you're not at my side. I just need some space, maybe a few Corey free weeks." she snapped. The words left her mouth before she even realized what she said. Topanga sort of drew back, averting Corey's horrfied look.  
"Fine! You'll get your damn 'Corey free weeks' or maybe it should be Corey-free months!" he managed. His face was livid with anger.  
She opened her mouth to respond but the words caught in her throat. Her eyes pricked with tears at his words.  
Corey took that as her agreement and motioned for Shawn to follow as he briskly walked away. Shawn threw a look back at her before he followed. She knew they would both be worrying about her during break.  
They didn't need to be, she thought angerily. Not at all. She sat down on a nearby bench. Everyday Corey and her would sit there before class. Conversation would consist of Corey rambling on about Morgan's latest antics of Eric's horrible dating disasters. Their own dates were becoming pretty boring, and she felt as if she was married to him. Topanga knew she still loved Corey, but the passion was rapildy diminishing.  
"That was quite an exit," a soft voice said from behind her. Topanga looked up at the speaker startled. It was Stewart Minkus. She hadn't seen him since he switched into a more advanced class at the end of eighth grade. He had grown much taller, but other than that he looked no different. His turtleshell-rimmed glasses still sat proudly on his nose, and his blond hair still parted with an uncanny precision.  
Minkus's attire, that had lost it's chess club tournament look. He wore boot cut khaki's, though not at all baggy they were not tight either. His look seemed more fitting for an adult than a seventeen year old. Looking up into his eyes, she realized that his face had matured a lot. A small mustache was beginning to grow on his upper lip.  
Topanga was too speechless to respond.Her surprise at seeing him and her unwillingness to discuss Corey's leaving froze her tounge.She did not even know where she stood with him anymore. Was that a break-up?  
Minkus sat down next to her. "Any guy who walks out on you has some major problems," he said, in the same soft tone. It seemed more gentle know, with a hint of affection that he always used with her.  
Her eyes watered again, "It's not Corey's fault. It's mine," she admitted. Before she knew it, she told him the thing, how she felt, how Corey acted and his final words. He patiently listened with great intensity. Corey had done that, but his attentiveness drove her crazy as well. He tried to answer all her problems and be a comforting shoulder with every little pain. Sometimes that suited her well, others she just needed to vent.  
"Hey you kids, didn't you here? It's vacation, you don't need to be hanging around school." Mr. Turner said as he walked by. Topanga blushed and realized it had been an hour since school had let out. She always picked up on Mr. Turner's surprise at seeing her. Minkus offered to take her out to dinner and she consented, a little unwillingly. Corey had just left her, and now she was going out with another guy.  
*This isn't another guy, this is Minkus* she thought with a grin, and followed him to Chubby's. There they sat in a corner booth, nowhere near where she usually sat.. The light above the table went out and it provided a nice shade from public eye.  
"When did your frustration with Corey start?" Minkus asked.  
"It must have been three weeks ago. I'm not sure, it just hit me one day, out of the blue. He's a great guy, but high school's supposed to be a whole dating experience," she found herself saying. "Is Corey the only guy I'm going to be dating? Is he the guy I'm going to get married to?" the last part was a little incredlous.  
"Maybe you need some experience before going back to Corey, you know, a little testing of the waters."Minkus suggested.  
At first Topanga wanted to consent but then she saw the gleam in Minkus's eye, the warm glow in his cheeks. He still liked her.  
"I don't know.." she mummured, reaching for her purse.  
"Well, I could show you how a date could work, you know, like a mock date." his offer was too rushed, his timing was off, she thought. But her mind needed a break from Corey and she knew her parents would jump all over the fact that Corey hadn't driven her home like always. So she agreed, against her better judgement. A part of her knew the dangers of this, but she tried to quiet her unwillingness to go on the date.  
"Alright," she said a little bit later, and he instantly grinned. Just then a waiter came by, asking for drink orders.  
"The lady here will have a Coke and I will have iced tea," he said, as if he could read her mind. The man nodded and promised to return for the menus.  
"How did you know I wanted a Coke?" she demanded.  
"Coke's your favorite drink," he answered confidently.  
She laughed and began to relax. Minkus did not fail to impress her the entire evening. His awkardness was fading, though still evident in some of his conversation. Overall, he was different, or at least she thought he was different. Sometimes when he looked at her, she caught a climpse of the thirteen year old boy she once knew.  
Soon they were walking out of Chubby's, and in an awkward point. She was breathless from laughing almost all evening and the wind felt especially cold on her flushed cheeks. It was beginning to snow giving the world a mystical look.  
"At this point I would walk the girl back to her house and give her a kiss on the cheek," Minkus said softly, even though the mock date pretense had vanished with Topanga's reasoning.  
"Only on the cheek?" she had to ask.  
"Well, for you, there might be an exception," he returned, leaning closer to her.  
"Minkus," she argued softly stepping back. He winced at the name and drew himself up.  
"I apologize, I got carried away," he muttered. They began walking towards the bus stop. The only inconvience about Chubby's was that there wasn't a bus stop nearby. The snow picked up, along with the wind. Soon Topanga could hardly see where she was going.  
"We have to get out of this," Minkus commented, stopping. She could hardly tell he stopped except that the black blur next to her went away. She nodded and then began running back to his car, a block down.  
"Oh," Topanga cried out, as her feet slipped on some ice. She fell, rather ungracefully on her ankle. A sharp stab of pain told her she would need assistance getting home. Minkus instantly came to her side and helped her to stand. Progress was slow but they made it. By the time they pulled out onto the streets snow coated everything about an inch deep.It only came down harder though.  
"We have to get off the roads," Minkus said, pulling off onto a residental street. "My house is closer," he added.  
They hobbled inside and she leaned against the door frame while Minkus fiddled for his keys. She realized she had to call her parents and tell them where she was.She made up some excuse about walking home with her friend and deciding to wait for the snow storm to pass but getting stuck at her house. They bought it, and she felt a little relieved. They did not have time to ask about Corey.  
Minkus started a fire and wrapped her ankle. His fingers felt rough and bumbling on her skin. She sensed he was nervous. In the dark of the living room, the fire cast weird shadows on the room. Nothing looked like it normally was, including Minkus. Looking into his eyes she saw that his glasses were off and his looked almost blue. The look her gave her then did not belong to any thirteen year old boy, quite the contrary, he looked like a man. Shadows played on his skin making it less floruesent white and more of a pale cream. His arms seemed to bulge in his button down shirt. She remembered vaguely wondering if he worked out. Before she knew it he was kissing her and she was returning it. How different his mouth was than Corey's, how different his hands felt when they gripped her shoulders and then moved to her back. Everything went hazy as their passions errupted. Topanga knew she was totally loosing her mind, as Minkus gently laid her down on the couch. It felt velvetly soft against her bare back. He looked a little hesistant above her, but she assured him by drawing him to her.  
It wasn't until awhile later that Topagna realized the consequences of her actions. The bathroom lights were suddenly blinding white. Everything that was so blurry then as it came into focus. Her breath caught in her throat. The test read postive.  
  
~Sorry it turned out so long! Thanks for reading!~ 


	6. Topanga Tells All

Author's Note: I'm sorry if Topanga's out of character, it's sort of hard to have her like she normally is in this story. I hope you can see that it all works out, that I didn't make any fatal mistakes in my plot. I'm sorry about the whole switching back and forth between the times! I thought it would be better understood that way! Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!  
  
Chapter 6- Topanga Tells All  
  
~Four Years Ago Still~  
  
After her night with Minkus, Topanga went over to Corey's house and apologized. She claimed to be out of line and to have taken her stress out on Corey. Minkus tried several times to contact her and every time she ignored him. This was before her test. After the results she knew she had to get help. She called Minkus the day she found out. He offered to help, but she refused it. It would be hard enough with Corey, her parents and her friends; Minkus would only mess things up. The worst part of the pregnancy would be over summer break; she couldn't stay home like she always did. She happened to know Corey would be spending summer at home and she couldn't tell him, yet.  
Topanga found her solution, her aunt. She decided to go stay with her aunt in Pittsburgh over the summer. She only told her mother, but only because her mother found her pregnancy test and figured it all out. It was hard telling them both that Corey wasn't the father. For days they did not speak to her, and her mother followed her around the house crying. The seven-day silence was broken when her mother came out and hugged her one morning. In April, her stomach began to swell, she hurriedly began donning baggy sweaters and comfy shorts, and she claimed to a cold when people at school questioned her. Her sensitivity peaked, and she tried to hide it with phony relatives dying. Her parents told the counselor at school and often Topanga was called into the small room off of the nurse's office.  
The ancient counselor always stared at her in disbelief before asking if she was doing all right. Topanga didn't have the heart to tell her parents (who told the counseler to set up meetings) that going to 'Dr. Smith' was doing more harm than good. June came and she had to leave Corey. She told him she was going to camp; she got on a bus, although it went to Pittsburgh, not Happy Trails.  
She gave birth to a baby boy, and he instantly went into the hands of a young couple who could not bear children. Topanga never even got to nurse him. When he was still inside her, she did not mind that he would be adopted, but holding him in her arms she felt as though she could never leave him. Her heart broke when the couple came for their child. They called him John, which also hurt her because she wanted to name him Lance. He was a Lance, not a John. Then she figured John was a better-suited name, for one of the members of N'Sync was a Lance.  
She recovered and the minute all signs of her pregnancy were gone, she returned to school for her senior year. Her parents wanted to move to Pittsburgh, so that she could get away from all of the mess of her pregnancy, but by that time she had grown so fond of Corey again. She convinced them to let her stay in Philadelphia with her aunt, who had moved back to Philadelphia with her.  
  
~Present~  
  
While Topanga's eyes swelled with tears, her friends stood in shock, then the silence broke.  
Corey began laughing, and then Shawn and Angela followed suit. Only Minkus and Topanga remained serious. The hysteria of their laughing was the only clue that they were upset by the news.  
"You godamn idiots! You are too caught up in your perfect lives to see the truth!" Stormed Minkus, his calm manner snapping.  
The laughing stopped immediately, and attention was brought to Topanga once more. The entire restaurant seemed to be staring at them as well.  
Topanga could no longer hold back her tears, they began slipping down her cheeks, and she did not even both to wipe them.  
Minkus appeared entirely triumphant. He pulled from his pocket a birth record from the Pittsburgh hospital and also a picture of a young boy, no older than four with Topanga's eyes did and Minkus's hair did. He placed them firmly on the table in front of Corey.  
The latter seemed to pass through thousands of emotions at once, surprise, disbelief, hurt and finally anger. His voice came out contorted. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
Topanga threw down her napkin and fled the scene. All eyes seemed to watch her run to the doors and out into the rain. The storm had come.  
***************************************************************  
  
"I see my work here is done," Minkus commented, staring straight into Corey's eyes. He rose from the table, looking perfectly collected as he was before. No regret was evident in his face or in his tone. Only glee that he had ruined the lives of those whom had tormented him as a child.  
"You defiled her!" Roared Shawn, jumping up from the table. He lunged at Minkus, fists bared. Minkus merely stepped back, seeing Angela's firm hand come down on his shoulder.  
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a plane to catch tonight. It was nice meeting you Angela," the blond man responded, smiling genuinely in Angela's direction.  
"You bastard," she spat, temporarily releasing Shawn. Minkus stopped a little taken aback, his momentary pause proved to be fatal.  
In a matter of seconds Shawn had tackled him and began pummeling his face. He got three or four good punches in before the owners of the restaurant tore him away. Minkus struggled to a stand position and threw a punch at Shawn while his arms were pinned behind his back. Then, he shrugged off a waiter that tried to restrain him and walked out of the restaurant.  
Shawn was thrown out as well, and Angela followed behind closely. Corey remained sitting at the table, head in his hands. He felt as though his heart had been ripped in several pieces and scattered around the table. A man came by with a check; they added the meals but did not bring them out. It was a punishment for the scene they had all made in the restaurant.  
  
As he fingered the bill, Corey briefly wondered if Topanga had gone home. He shook that thought out of his mind, and with a burst of anger he swore he didn't care. She lied to me, he thought. She slept with Minkus, she gave birth to a Minkus...his thoughts rambled on and on about her deception.  
Sanity seemed to have left him. Later on he would pity her, her situation was bad, and partly his own doing. His concern had driven to do such a disastrous thing. Topanga had gone through a lifetime of suffering in such a short time. What if her parents didn't understand? What if they had thrown her out? In all his love for her would he have readily taken her in, while the child grew inside her? Worse yet, what if this had happened a month earlier or someone at school found out?  
However, sitting in the restaurant he thought of none of these things. All he felt was raw pain and betrayal. Anger crept in soon after, he wanted to kill Minkus, he wanted to hit Topanga, but he instantly withdrew the last thought. He could never hit her, even if she ran off with Minkus to Vegas at that instant. He still loved her, he realized with a pang. Nothing could ever stop it, but at the moment he didn't want to be near her. Not for awhile, he could not look into her browns eyes or feel her soft arms against his without thinking, This is what she did to Minkus four years ago...  
The birth certificate the Minkus had so readily withdrew lay face up glaring at him. In red letters it read things that could destroy his young marriage. His friends had been questionable when he told them about his proposal. High school marriages never worked they told him, never. They usually only lasted eight months at the most, never a year. How proud he had been when he and Topanga had reached a year. But now, his friends seemed to be right, and all of the 'meant to be' sayings seemed like idle bullshit.  
************************************************************  
Outside Shawn paced around on the sidewalk. His eye began to blacken, and he was thoroughly soaked to the skin. The rain was still pouring down, and the storm was in full force.  
Angela just watched him from under the awning of the restaurant. She stood numb, her pure friend, her good friend loosing her virginity to Stewart Minkus, class nerd extraordinaire. The girl cared so much about her reputation, she thought, recalling the time in ninth grade when she was excused of sleeping with Corey. She had been so upset, but that was all a misunderstanding. Angela knew that with Minkus it was no misunderstanding. It didn't seem real but it was, and she had seen the birth certificate.  
Shawn was thinking only of smashing Minkus's face in. He had to find him, Corey would be in there awhile, and he had to find Minkus. He had to. "Angela go find Topanga, I'm going to get Minkus," snarled Shawn.  
Angela numbly nodded and set off towards the dorm. Shawn however, set off towards the airport. Minkus had somehow gotten on the bus without Shawn seeing. He had been thrown out the back and Minkus had been escorted to the front. He had not thought of running to the front of the restaurant until a little while later. By that time it was too late, the man was gone.  
He reached the bus stop soon, and the bus came as if on cue a few minutes later. He found an empty seat near the window and tried to control his impatience while the bus pulled off towards the highway.  
****************************************************************  
  
Topanga went immediately back to the dorm. She had gotten out the suitcase and packed it full in a fury of tears. Her outfits, her life swiftly went in the beat-up plastic suitcase she had since high school. She rummaged through her wallet; she had very little cash. It was then she noticed her credit card on the table. It lead to Corey and her's joint account and only could be used in emergencies. This was an emergency. Just as she slipped it into her purse she heard someone outside her door. She glanced up and saw that it was Minkus. His face seemed a little battered, dark bruises were evident on his cheeks.  
"Stewart, what are you doing here?" She demanded her voice tight.  
"I've come to see you, my love. I couldn't leave without telling you good-bye;" he answered sugary, as if the whole scene in the restaurant hadn't happened.  
"Don't call me that," she snapped, backing away from the door.  
"You weren't so cold to me four years ago." He sneered; "you were quite passionate then. How feisty you were then,"  
"How incredibly stupid I was then! That was four years ago, Stewart. Why did you bring this up? You have to let the past be," Topanga pleaded, she felt as if she was completely defenseless under his steady gaze.  
"Oh, I didn't bring this up just for Corey's sake; I wouldn't waste my money that way. My real motive was that our child (Topanga winced) is in need of our care. It seems the lovely adoptive parents are mistreating him, and he is in the orphanage." Stewart answered coolly. He had stepped closer.  
"Someone else will adopt him! I'm married now, I'm in school, I can't just leave all that for my child. Legally he isn't my child anyway," Topanga added. She could not bring up that remorse again.  
"You see that's where you're mistaken. No one else will adopt him. I happen to have a case dealing with his orphanage. They fully plan on abolishing it all together, due to some neglected taxes. Nearly every child has been sent into a home, except for our child. So, I stopped by and adopted him. Presently he is staying with a friend of mine in New York. I told her I would return for him soon. As you know, a child needs its mother. I couldn't possibly find another mother quite as good as you," explained Minkus.  
"You're going to have to," Topanga replied, turning around.  
"Your bags are packed, dearest. Where do you plan on going?" Minkus inquired, standing at the foot of the bed.  
"I was planning on going to my mother's house."  
"And tell her what? The marriage she disapproved of isn't working?"  
Topanga bit her lip. She knew she couldn't stay and she desperately wanted to see her child again, but to leave school, her life, and her husband....  
"You realize your life here is over, don't you? Your husband probably can't stand the sight of you. Your friends are horrified at your actions; you can not stay in Pittsburgh. I am offering you a chance to see your son. The very same precious little boy you have not held in your loving arms for four years. Do not pass this up, I will not allow you near him on any other conditions. Come with me to New York," Minkus seemed to read her mind, see into her inner most thoughts.  
"All right," she replied.  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
Angela had just reached the dorm when she saw Topanga and Minkus leaving. Topanga seemed to trail behind the blond as if she were his prisoner. Panicked, Angela tore back to the restaurant to tell Corey what had happened. She didn't stop running until she got there.  
Corey was still seated at the table lost in thought. Angela convinced the waiter that she was with Corey and tried to catch her breath. As she approached Corey glanced up appearing bewildered and hurt.  
"Corey, there's something wrong. I just saw Topanga leaving with Minkus," she said desperately. To her shock Corey did not show any reaction.  
"She might as well leave with the father of her child." He murmured, with little hope in his voice.  
"She doesn't want to go, Corey. I know she doesn't. Come with me to the airport. You heard Minkus; he has a flight out tonight." Begged Angela.  
"You can go, but I'm staying here." He suddenly sounded old. She hardly recognized the young man sitting there. His carefree attitude completely vanished. Angela wouldn't ever have thought Corey could get this downhearted.  
"You must come, and you'll loose her forever." Persisted Angela. Suddenly Corey snapped.  
"I've already lost her! Can't you see? We can never be together again! Things will never be the same!" He said, eyes full of tears.  
"Fine! The only girl you ever loved is going tonight and her devoted husband is going to sit on his ass and mope!" Angela argued, turning on her heel. She began walking towards the door. She realized that Corey was following her when she got outside.  
"What are you waiting for?" He demanded. "Let's go get Topanga," 


	7. Race for the plane

I know it's been months since I last updated, I've been really really busy! Thanks so much for waiting! Sorry it took so long, and please feel free to review!

~Nina Matthews~

Chapter 7: The Race for the Plane

Topanga stared out the taxi window, watching the rain fall from the heavens. Her thoughts were those of doubt, and she wondered if giving up on Corey was the right thing to do. He would come around, but then again, this wasn't some stupid fight, this was a child. The nightmare had become reality, Topanga thought, casting a look at the smirking blond next to her. Minkus is hitting on me and I agreed to go with him to see our child. 

Thinking of the child made her feel guilty for being so relunctent to stay. She had to claim responsability for the act, Minkus had. This wasn't about four years ago, or Minkus or even Corey. The whole ordeal was about a little boy who had no place to call home because his mother had made the biggest mistake of her life. With that thought, Topanga turned from the window, and watched only the seat in front of her. The car changed lanes as the airport drew nearer.

"I do hope our flight isn't delayed," Minkus commented, smiling at Topanga. He reached for her hand and she drew back just as quickly. He sighed, and felt his triumph mood fade. In time she will warm to you, he thought to himself. Soon that petty marriage with Corey will end, the divorce would be clean. Topanga would need more comforting and Minkus was there to give it to her, just as he had before. Perhaps there would be more children in their future, all of them as beautiful and smart as their mother. Part on Minkus knew that Topanga would never be happy with him, even if they did marry and raise a family. She would always be a distant and cold creature, not the warm, genial woman he had fallen in love with. Only reuniting with Corey would fix that, he realized with pang of dispair. Could he really be as selfish as to keep her away from her love? Minkus pondered this only a shortwhile, and admired the beauty next to him while doing so. The answer was clear, of course he could. As long as he had Topanga, he had won, but the minute he let compassion do his thinking, Corey would once again be the victor.

****************************************************************************************************

Shawn stared out the window, glaring at his sallow reflection. He hoped that he was not too late, and also hoped he could legally kill the scheming blond who had done all this to Corey. What if Topanga was drugged, and she just thought that it was a natural thing? Being depressed was no reason to screw a Minkus. Come to think of it, Shawn thought with a smirk, there was no reason on earth to screw a Minkus. He almost said that outloud, but then he figured the rest of the crowded bus would think he was crazy. 

The airport loomed closer, and Shawn began itching to get off. He shifted postions and looked around the rest of the bus. His fellow passengers were all blank faced, weary travelers, who had long since forgotten the passion of their youth. By the looks of the man closest to Shawn, a gray haired serious man with a heavy expression, many of them had felt no passion in their youth. "I'm going to kill you Minkus," vowed Shawn under his breath, as the bus pulled up to the first terminal. Shawn had no idea what plane company Minkus was taking, but he'd figure it out, there could only be a few flights to New York leaving on such a night. As he hopped out, the cold rain pelted him in the back. Gusts of wind blew it underneath the overhang, and Shawn cursed it, hoping against hope that it wouldn't ruin his infamous leather jacket. Ducking inside, Shawn set out on his search for the flight, heading towards the large monitors at the back of the room. Travelers rushed past him, and he found himself jolted in every direction imaginable. He cursed the travelers as well, as he struggled to see the screens. Everything was doing its best to keep him from reaching Minkus, but he would prove them all wrong. They had no idea who they were messing with.

*************************************************************************************************************

Corey and Angela waited outside the restuarant. "Where did they go?" Corey demanded of Angela, biting his lip hard. 

"To the airport, I suppose. Minkus had their bags.." Angela started before she was interrupted by Corey.

"They didn't have any bags. Minkus had his bag, and Topanga had hers. Don't tell me about 'their' things." snapped Corey, glaring at Angela as if she had been the one to bring the bad news.

"Don't get mad at me!" Angela protested. "I'm not the one sleeping with Minkus, and I'm not the one who made all this happen."

"Don't blame Topanga! Can't you see, this is all my fault! She was the victim and that weasel took advantage of her. That man will never breathe again once I get a hold of him. He hailed a cab while he said this. Corey tried to ignore the worry in Angela's stare, it was unnerving him. 

They climbed in, and Corey told him to go to the airport.

"Which terminal?" demanded the driver, not moving the steering wheel, but starting the timer that held the charges for the cab ride.

"The main terminal, it doesn't matter, just go!" yelled Corey. Angela laid a firm hand on his arm. Corey calmed a bit, and shook free of her restraint. He just stared ahead of him, his jaw twitching in anger. 

Angela gave up on soothing him, he was past all reconciliation. Minkus was a dead man, and she hoped that Corey or Shawn would not find him yet, because there would be homicide if they did. She tried to clear her mind of the entire night, and focus on something less stressful. She kept seeing Topanga, but not as the sweet Topanga she was friends with, but the seductress who had been with Minkus. It pained Angela to think of her friend in such a light but she just couldn't get the image out of her head. Poor Corey, she thought, with a frown. This must be killing him.

It was killing him, Corey could feel his heart disintegrating as he sat there, as he was removed from Topanga for longer. He found it hard to forgive her, but he also found he couldn't leave her at the mercy of Minkus, no matter what had happened four years ago. She had grown from that experience, and it was so long ago. Four years ago he had never imagined that Topanga would sleep with someone, and that was one thing that didn't change. He still couldn't believe it. Perhaps it was his disbelief that drove him to stop her from leaving. It was all just some fancy lie to him, a big practical joke, a bad joke at that. Part of him knew that wasn't true, but the majority of him tried to believe it never happened. Looking out the window, Corey saw that the highway was crowded, and moving slowily. 

"What's wrong?" he asked the driver. 

"Part of the road is flooded, there's a detour. It'll be another half hour at least." the driver returned with a smirk. Clearly all the driver thought about was money.

"No, this is an emergency, we need to get to the airport as soon as possible." Corey demanded. The driver shrugged. 

Corey had had it. Glancing around at the slow moving vehicles, he found that he had no choice but to go on foot. It was only another six miles until the airport.

"What are you doing?" Angela demanded as Corey opened the door.

"What does it look like, I'm going to save Topanga," the man responded and he hopped out, oblvious the cab driver's angry remarks. Dodging traffic until he reached the shoulder, Corey took off down the road, sprinting as hard as he could. The rain, the cold, and the wind did not stop him. All he felt was the burning desire to save the woman he loved from making the second biggest mistake of her life.

End of Chapter 7

~next update will be soon, I promise! So sorry for the delay!!~


	8. Corey's Choice

~Thanks for all the reviews! It's great to be back writing again.~

Chapter 8: Corey's Choice

The taxi pulled up at the terminal all too soon for Topanga. Minkus hopped out, paid the driver and collected the bags from the trunk and set them on the floor. He then went around to Topanga's door and opened it for her.

"Aren't you coming dear?" he questioned, with a smile that meant well, but looked too cunning on him. She looked up at him, and tears stung her eyes. Topanga did not accept his hand, but did allow him to usher her underneath the overhang. It was such a chilly evening, she thought, as she waited for Minkus to check the bags. She felt like running away from Minkus, but she knew that the desire to see her child was too strong. What Topanga also realized was that Minkus knew how badly she wanted to see the child that was probably going to ruin her marriage. 

"Why won't you check my bags?" demanded Minkus crossly, shouting at the man working the desk. Apparently the man at the desk was foreign, having a difficult time understand Stewart's quick, direct orders. Topanga smiled to herself, thinking that people like that always sensed when it was urgent and deliberately took their time to annoy you, even if it meant a reduction in their tips. After all, they had to deal with snotty businessmen not unlike Stewart all day, and Minkus was just unlucky enough to be one of the last to come through. Ten minutes passed before Minkus finally checked the two bags, and then he gruffly pulled Topanga inside. The main terminal seemed to be busting with wet businessmen, all impatient to leave the airport. The line to go through the metal detectors stretched from the escalators at the end of the room to the doors where Topanga and Minkus had come in. Next to the metal detectors stood the giant screens. 

"Damn," Minkus said, looking at the crowd. He ran a hand through his hair. "I need to make sure our flight isn't delayed,"

"Stewart, we can find that out when we check in. If we don't get in line now we'll never leave," Topanga warned him, despite the fact that not leaving the airport was precisely what she wanted to do. Her child's imagined face was beginning to haunt her, and the need to see him grew more compelling by the hour. She noticed the shocked look on Minkus's face as she said that. He had probably thought that she was still hesitant to go to New York. This cheered him considerably, that was obvious. Topanga wished she could take it back, so that he would be impatient and gruff again. At least when he was frustrated he wasn't hitting on her, which was very suspicious indeed because before he had been hitting on Angela…probably some revenge tactic for Shawn, Topanga thought. It was going to be a long night, that she could have figured at the restaurant. Her child, her baby boy, she kept thinking of him, and remembering the time she spent with her aunt. Most days that summer were spent laying in her room reading whatever her aunt had in the house. She finished her summer reading list in a week, and then moved to her aunt's private collection. As long as she was seen and not heard, her aunt would allow her to say. Over dinner neither woman talked to the other, but Topanga's aunt always gave her one look of pity mixed with disgust. Topanga could almost read her aunt's thoughts, they were as plain as day. "I'm glad your not my daughter," they screamed. At first Topanga had met this hostility coolly, accepting that everything came with a cost, and having an illegitimate child had major expenses. The only joy she could find in it all was that no one at school ever found out. That would be the end of her, and now that Corey knew…Topanga stopped that thought, as she had stopped it when she thought it at the restaurant. The present needed her focus, and dwelling in the past did nothing to soothe her. 

***************************************************************************

Shawn ran into the airport, wet and angry. It was crowded, no doubt due to the rain. The lingering lovers parted by the doors, the businessman liked the doors as well, they made for good reception for their cell phones. Families stood in the line for security impatiently, the children bored beyond tears and the fathers as impatient as Shawn. Scanning them all, he did not see Minkus, and what worried him more was that he did not see Topanga. Surely their flight had been delayed, even if it was only for a half hour. That would give Shawn plenty of time to find them, or figure out which flight they were taking. Growing desperate Shawn pushed his way over to the screen to find out which flights were going to New York. There were only two, both leaving around the same time from totally opposite ended gates. Casting a look over to the ticket counters, he knew that it would be at least fifteen minutes longer before he could eliminate the wrong flight. 

"I'll find you, Minkus, and you'll wish I never did," Shawn muttered under his breath, looking out over the crowded room a final time.

****************************************************************************************************

The rain kept coming, and the airport looked no closer as Corey ran down the road. Cars honked at him, and many called out catcalls. He was in a state of desperation, he heard nothing but beating of his heart and the sound of his breath coming in spurts. It had been ages since he last ran, but he didn't feel out of shape. His mission so important, his will so great, nothing could stop him from getting to the airport, or so he thought. As he drew closer, he saw that the narrow shoulder of the road ended, and gave way to four busy lanes of traffic. There was no hope in cutting through, and no hope of going around. Corey found himself stranded. Tears stung his eyes as he looked around for a way out. 

As he stood there, ready to throw up his hands in defeat, a cab pulled over. It was an older woman with a kind face. "You look like you could need a lift," she said. 

Eagerly Corey nodded and climbed in. "Thank you so much. I need to get to the terminal right away."

"Don't worry, that's where I'm heading now. There's no need to walk on a day like this." the lady responded with a smile. She reminded Corey of his own grandmother, not the one who would kill a man in Reno to watch him die though. 

"I can't thank you enough," Corey said again, as he regained his breath.

"There's no trouble. I figured you needed a cab just as much as I do. I'm sure there's a good story too, behind your standing in the rain." The woman looked eager to hear it, but Corey was not so eager to tell.

"It's a long story that I would rather not say," Corey managed, turning red. Just thinking about it made his insides flip. It also made him want to kill Minkus. As he looked ahead, he saw hope was in sight. The terminal loomed closer, like a bright beacon. The cab pulled up to the curb and Corey got ready to jump out.

"Young man, you wouldn't mind helping me with my luggage, would you? You look so strong." the woman questioned. That was the last thing Corey wanted to do, but he knew that he had to. It couldn't take that long to pull her luggage to the curb. As he hoped out, the cab driver opened the trunk. Suitcases burst out, and Corey counted at least six still packed inside. Grabbing the loose bags, Corey began to pile them on the side when he heard a soft sigh from the woman.

"Young man, those are brand new. Couldn't you make sure they get inside?" 

Her last request seemed ridiculous but Corey dragged them all inside, and in record time. Finally he left the woman by her things and fought through the crowds. Topanga was out there and he had to find her before it was too late. 

There were so many people, he could hardly manage to weave in and out. His eyes never tired of searching every face, but none of them were his wife's. Several times he thought he found her, only to realize it was a bewildered stranger. 

Then he glanced up and saw her. She was putting her purse through the metal detectors and ready to step through. Topanga threw a look behind her and her eyes met his. She froze, and Corey felt like doing the same, but he pushed ahead. He saw Minkus move towards her, to get her to move on, but it was too late. 

Grabbing her elbow, he pulled her aside. The security guard gave him a warning look but he glared at him and then looked back to Topanga. 

"Topanga, please don't go. I'm sorry for the way I acted before, but I have accepted the fact that you had a child. It must have been difficult, no impossible for you, but you overcame it. I love you, and I always will. Nothing will come in the way of that." Corey told her breathlessly. Topanga's eyes watered and she turned away.

"Thank you Corey, but I can't stay. You have to let me go to New York to see my child. He needs me now." Topanga begged.

"No, you can't! Not with him! I'll go with you." Corey argued and Topanga shook her head no.

"This is something I have to do, with Minkus. I know he hurt you but you have to understand." Topanga insisted. She started to back away. Corey knew there was no stopping her, but he couldn't bring himself to give her permission. Instead he turned and vanished into the crowd.


	9. Take Off

Author's note- Sorry it took so long to update! Thanks for being patient, I'll try to get the next chapters up as soon as I can! Please R&R to tell me how I'm doing.

Chapter 9- Take off

"May I help you?" the woman at the ticket counter sang sweetly, as Shawn stepped up.

"Yes, I'm looking for a business partner of mine, a Mr. Stewart Minkus. Is he on this flight? Its urgent that I get on the same one." Shawn lied, as he had practiced in his head just moments before. 

"Allow me to check for you, this could take a few minutes." the woman replied, and walked slowly over to her computer. After what seemed like an hour she finally walked back over to Shawn, who drummed his fingers impatiently at the counter.

"I'm sorry sir, there is no Minkus on board today. Perhaps you have the wrong flight number."

Shawn cursed to himself as he made his way across the airport to the second ticket counter where hopefully he would be able to find Minkus. The man at the counter was less willing to help, but eventually agreed to check the flight for a Minkus. The results were positive.

"There is a Minkus on board sitting in first class." the man responded briskly.

"Do you have any other seats available on that flight- I really need to be on it." Shawn asked, drawing out his wallet. Usually, he did not so readily spend his money, but in this case there was an exception. If Minkus got Topanga to New York, she would never come back. She would stay there with her child although Shawn doubted that existence. It was all a little too convenient for him, the child, Minkus finding him. 

"Yes, we have an available seat in coach." the man announced, and then demanded from Shawn an incredibly high amount of money. Shawn hardly noticed, but instead snatched the ticket from him and ran to catch his plane.

*****************************************************************************************

Topanga watched Corey turn and walk away from her, wondering if she would ever see him again. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she wished she had the courage to stop him, to tell him that they could go to New York together and see the child. How much happier she would feel if she could just call out, but Topanga found that she could not speak. She also found herself rooted to the exact spot, and not even Stewart's frustrated cries could move her. It wasn't until his cold hands grasped her arms and pulled her into the security line that Topanga left. As she was being pulled, she numbly thought of ways to escape her situation, but it all led up to a dead end. Minkus had her trapped, a last for the brief time she would be in New York. 

Before she knew it, Topanga was in the terminal, and boarding the plane that would take her away from her life. Minkus chatted briskly in her ear, telling her that once they were in New York she could forget about this whole diaster, especially her husband. 

"Do I have to remind you that the only reason I'm leaving Pittsburgh is for my son? This has little do with you, Minkus, you would do well to remember that." she finally snapped at him, and to her relief he listened that time, and remained quiet throughout take off.

***********************************************************************************************

Angela ran inside the airport, glancing about wildly for any signs of disturbances. She felt relieved to see no police tape or Minkus' dead body lying in any obvious corner of the airport. Glancing that the departures, she saw most of the planes were delayed, including the two leaving for New York. She had the advantage over Shawn and Corey, knowing which airline company Minkus was taking, it was the same one she had taken to come home. She went as far as she could to the gate, but found that for security reasons she could not get farther than baggage claim. It was then that Angela hit a lucky break. Two airline stewardess walked in front of her carrying uniform bags. They headed for the restroom- apparently to change. Angela followed them, and watched to see which stalls they went in. She had sized them up, and the taller of the two would have the uniform that fit her best. Sure enough, the uniform bags were hung by the sinks, right in the middle of the restroom. It was surprisingly busy, and very easy for Angela to take the tall one's uniform bag. 

For whatever reason, the stewardess had left her id card on the outside pocket of the bag, making it very easy for Angela to get into the airport and to the terminal Topanga was leaving from. The plane had arrived, but was not boarding to passengers, so Angela was able to board the plane without having Minkus or Topanga see her. None of the officials of the airport seemed to mind either, and believed her hurried lie that she had ran late and was unable to change before the flight.

Once on the plane, Angela threw on her uniform, donned a happy smile and prepared to be a stewardess. 

********************************************************************************************

The flight was crowded, Shawn noticed that as he stepped on the plane. He was joustled down the aisle, so he was unable to glance around the cabin to see where Topanga was sitting. His seat ended up being at the very back of the plane by the window, which would prove difficult to move about the cabin. Crawling over two disgruntled business people was not his idea of an easy move, but he had no other choice. He craned his neck around to see if he could catch a glimpse of Topanga or Minkus, but he hoped he would not have to encounter the slimy man during the ride. 

Next to Shawn, a young woman and her child sat down, which instantly turned into an issue. The child, a precocious five year old, began singing and chatting away to Shawn who chose not to respond to the child's rambling.

"What's your favorite color?" the little girl questioned, face beaming at Shawn. Then, without waiting for a response, she continued, "Mine's pink. I sure love pink, it's the best color ever. My doll loves pink too, that's the only color she ever wears? Can you imagine only wearing pink all the time! That would be so boring!"

Shawn pretended not to listen, but found himself still contributing to the conversation, to keep the girl quiet. Her mother paid no heed to the girl- three seconds after settling in she fell asleep. 

Right before take off, the girl stopped talking, and started getting scared. "I've never been on a plane before!" she claimed, her watery brown eyes turning to Shawn, as if he could take away her fear of flying.

"It's not so bad," Shawn reassured her. "The plane just goes really fast and lifts off the ground."

This did nothing to soothe the girl, who took to shrieking with fear. Up front, a stewardess gave Shawn a reprimanding look. Then whispered something to the woman next to her. Shawn rolled his eyes, and sunk in his seat, knowing how bad making a little girl scream would look. He heard the sound of high heels approaching and then turned his attention to his shoes.

"Excuse me sir," a familiar voice said to him. Shawn glanced up at the stewardess in the aisle. His mouth fell open, it was Angela.

"Shawn?" Angela demanded, "what are you doing?"

"Following Minkus and Topanga, what are you doing?" Shawn questioned, referring to her mock stewardess uniform.

"The same thing," Angela admitted, blushing. Meanwhile, the girl continued to scream, brining both of them back to the present situation.

"I didn't mean to make her scream, she was just scared about take off," Shawn explained.

"I understand," Angela said briskly, and handed the girl a coloring book from down the aisle.

"I wonder what Corey's doing right now," Shawn said, remembering his confused friend pre-airport. 

"Last I saw him he was running down the freeway towards the airport." Angela admitted, and the two friends shared a worried look. 

A few seats ahead of Shawn, a man called out for a stewardess. Angela excused herself, and went to serve her first official customer.

"How may I help you?" she chirped, peering around the seat to see who she was serving.

"Angela?" Corey asked, his mouth hanging open. His complexion was still blotchy from the scene in the airport.

Angela tried to mask her surprise with a smile. "Guess we all had the same idea," 

Corey gave her a puzzled look which Angela explained by pointing out Shawn. Both of them saw each other at the same time and sort of laughed. 

Turning back to Angela Corey asked if he could have a pillow. 

"Sir," Angela replied with mock seriousness," you need to buckle up and prepare for take off,"


	10. The Ride

Author's note: I'm trying to finish the story as soon as possible! Thanx for being so patient!! Please continue to R&R! It really helps me know how I'm doing with the story!

Chapter 10: The Ride

Topanga shifted restlessly in her seat, looking around the cabin for any source of entertainment. So far, she had been in the air for over forty-five minutes without any communication with anyone, and without any disturbances from Minkus. 

The latter sat stock still, staring blankly out the window or resting his eyes for a minutes at a time. He acted as if the entire ordeal was just another business trip, calculated and without hassle. Minkus even had the nerve to sigh occasionally, as if the flight was giving him strain. It was a turbulence free flight lacking any annoying neighbors or obnoxious screaming babies, save for the child at the beginning of the flight.

Something struck Topanga as odd about the flight- she had hardly seen a stewardess the entire time. She had seen a glimpse of a stewardess once, but she was wondering if that was just a figment of her idle mind. After all, the stewardess had remarkably resembled Angela, which was absurd. Topanga knew that Angela was back at college with everyone else. There was little chance of her seeing them for many weeks. Once again, it came back to that thought. She was leaving them all for a world she chose not to be apart of, with a man she did not even have the warmest regard for. She let out a sigh, not realizing there was a stewardess at her shoulder.

"Excuse me ma'am, but what will you be having to drink this afternoon?" the cheery woman asked her. Topanga glanced up, and was relieved to find it was not the Angela-look alike, but a much older woman.

Beside her Minkus stirred, and saw that drinks were being ordered. "We'll both have a Coke," he said for Topanga. The stewardess smiled at them, as if they were a cute couple on their honeymoon. The smile made Topanga feel sick to her stomach. Minkus gave her a side long look, and said, 

"Relax, we'll be in New York in an hour,"

*********************************************************************************

Angela found that after take off, there was little to do. She wandered up and down the back aisle giving Corey and Shawn two pillows and a blanket each. Each time she kept mentioning the lavatory at the front of the plane, near first class. However, both men were unable to move, due to their neighbors. It was going to be up to Angela to find Topanga, but she did not know how she could do so without Minkus seeing her. As she paced up and down the aisle, she thought of ways to reach Topanga. Her thought process was interrupted by the order to start asking about mid-flight drinks. Then it occurred to her that Angela could contact Topanga that way. If she knew which drink was Topanga's, she could write a note on the bottom of the napkin that went with the drink, and then Topanga was bound to see it. 

Angela found out that there was a map of the seats on the plane and on each seat a person was to write the drink order. As Angela made her own rounds starting from the back on the plane, she tried to catch a glimpse of Topanga, and finally did on her last row of ordering. She memorized the row and seat and then went back to Corey. 

"Sir, may I borrow a pen," she asked him, motioning the act of writing on a napkin. Corey did not quite catch her drift but gave her one anyway. 

"Thank you," Angela said, "now I can remember those darn first class orders,"

Corey's eyes widened and then he nodded. Shawn caught on more quickly, and encourage Angela to write for Topanga to come to the back of the plane after finishing her drink. After this was written, the plan was put into action.

*************************************************************************************************************

The drinks rolled by around ten minutes later, and Topanga was grateful for the distraction. As she grabbed her coke, she saw something written on the napkin. Glancing at Minkus, she found her was engrossed in one of the airplane's magazines. So she started to read the napkin. It read that she was to come to the back of the plane after she got her drink. Not wanting mass chaos to ensue, Topanga obeyed, and excused herself to the bathroom. Passing by the rows, she saw that she knew no one onboard, until she got the back. There she found two very familiar men pretending to wait in line for the bathroom along with one very conspicuous stewardess. 

"What are you doing here?" Topanga demanded, grabbing the dark haired man's arm. Corey turned to her, trying to appear apologetic. 

"There was an opening on the flight?" he offered hesitantly.

"You decided to buy a ticket to follow me? Do you not trust me, Corey?"

"No! I really don't. All this time we were married and you never told me about your child. I wouldn't have reacted the way I did if you hadn't lied to me for so many years!" Corey explained, flushing.

"What my friend's trying to say here," Shawn interjected, "is that we are all concerned about you."

Angela nodded her agreement. "I was so worried I illegally got on this plane," 

Topanga smiled a little, but then looked back towards first class. "You guys, I appreciate you coming, but I honestly need to do this with Stewart. It's not something you would understand. Please enjoy your trip to New York, and catch a flight home in time for school in two days, okay?"

"I'm not leaving without you," Corey promised, gazing into Topanga's eyes. Startled, Topanga pulled back.

"Please sit down before Minkus sees you. I don't want him to do anything to hurt you," she directed the last part at Angela, who took the hint and disappeared. Shawn also sat down, leaving Corey and Topanga alone. 

"I'm your husband, Topanga, and I still love you." he told her, trying to make her comprehend his words.

Topanga's eyes watered. "Do you think I would question that, Corey? I know you mean well but you just don't understand,"

Corey's back stiffened. "What is there not to understand?"

"To this child, you are no one, but Minkus is a father. I am this child's mother, and that gives Minkus and I a bond that you can not know. When we have children, then you will see, but until then, you have to let me do this with Minkus." Topanga begged.

Corey didn't respond, and Topanga whispered in his ear, "Just leave, Corey. It will be better for us both right now," 

Corey's eyes watered and he turned from her angrily. Topanga found she had to use the bathroom to wipe away her own tears before returning to sit down with Minkus.

The rest of the flight went smoothly, and soon the plane had landed in New York. Topanga hurried Minkus off, so that neither would bump into Angela. Minkus was surprised at her sudden vigor to leave, but pleasantly so. He would win her over, of this he was sure.

****************************************************************************************

As for Corey and Shawn, they found themselves with only petty cash and without anything but the clothes on their back in New York. Shawn's credit card was almost without credit, the ticket price had been very steep. They both decided on hailing a cab and renting a hotel room, to decide on what to do next. Angela they left to get out of her trouble with the airlines, who had suspected her of stealing her uniform. She was detained at the airport but promised that she could get away without any law suits in no time. Her father would straighten things out, with his high connections. If anything she could feign insanity and get away with a reprimand. Sitting in the cab, Corey glanced out the window and wondered what his wife would do without him in the large city. His anger boiled over after that thought, and he realized that he could care less what she did.


	11. Bright Lights

Author's note: I'm trying to finish the story as soon as possible! Thanx for being so patient!! Please continue to R&R! It really helps me know how I'm doing with the story!

Chapter 11: Bright Lights

Despite all of her turmoil, Topanga found she loved New York. The large buildings, all the people going to and from work, it was nothing short of amazing. The cab driver played classy jazz music as they pulled into mainstream traffic. It seemed fitting, the jazz, the dark night, and all the billboards lighting up. The city was radiant and alive.

Next to her, Minkus seemed to be more at ease. He even smiled from time to time. He was certainly glad to be home, or maybe it was more of a triumphant smile. If he had known about what had happened on the plane, then he would not have been as calm. Topanga knew the trip would have been ten times more difficult had Corey made a scene on the plane.

She wondered whether Corey was going to leave or not, or if he still loved her. She was putting him through hell, but her life wasn't much better. He had to understand her situation, which boarding the plane showed he didn't.

The cab pulled up at Stewart's apartment not fifteen minutes later. Topanga found that despite Stewart's apparent wealth, his apartment was small. The building was nice enough, everything seemed to be safe and sanitary, but it wasn't anything fancy. Minkus did own the flat of the apartment, which contained two bedrooms (Topanga was relieved by this).

Minkus was proud of his place, and showed it off with a flourish, while Topanga remained unimpressed. It was modestly decorated at best, with a few pictures on the wall showing Minkus graduating or with some older people she assumed were his family.

The thought that Minkus had a supportive family was startling to Topanga, she had always pictured him as a brooding loner who had no one to love him or that he cared to love. She found herself studying a certain frame with an intensity, a young Minkus embracing a girl, who looked almost identical to him, except many years older.

"That's Sarah, my sister, before she died." Minkus said, coming up unexpectedly behind her. Topanga jumped, and took in a sharp breath.

"I'm sorry," she said shortly, caught off guard. Minkus looked no older than nine in the picture, and she found herself wondering what happened.

Minkus shrugged off her comment. "She was going to medical school at Harvard at the time of the accident."

"That's a shame," Topanga murmured, thinking of the young woman she had never met being killed in her prime.

"Yes it was. She would have been a great doctor, but the drunk driver didn't seem to care about that." Minkus retorted bitterly. His voice was flat, but Topanga caught the tears welling up in his eyes. He paused before continuing, "She always knew I could do great things. I wasn't always the brain you thought I was in middle school, but after Sarah, I felt studies were the most important thing in the world. My sister never got the chance to learn everything she wanted, and I don't want that to happen to me. Who would have known when you were teasing the smart kid at school he was doing it for his dead sister?"

Topanga found she couldn't respond, and retreated in guilt to her given room to think about all of what Minkus had revealed to her.

Corey and Shawn's hotel was on a shady part of town, close to Brooklyn. Outside there were loud men yelling at cabs and whoever else walked by. They could not afford two rooms, so there was just one, on the ground floor with two squeaky queen beds. There was hardly room to move around the beds and the dresser. Unlike most rooms, there was no television, and only one single fan with a flickering light. The bathroom was a shabby closet, and neither men wanted to risk the rusted shower.

Shawn glanced over at Corey, who was laying on the bed with his eyes closed. He seemed perfectly relaxed, which was more than Shawn could say. He felt as though every minute they sat idly by was pushing Minkus closer to Topanga. "Can't we go out?" he demanded, running his hands through his hair like he used to do to win over high school girls years before.

"What good will it do? We have no idea where they are, or any money to find out. Plus Topanga wants to do this alone, and I respect that." Corey answered in an uncharacteristic monotone.

"Bullshit!" Shawn roared, kicking the dresser for emphasis. Corey opened his eyes lazily and then closed them again.

"Topanga told me it would be fine," he replied.

"If its fine then why aren't we on a plane going home? Why did Angela sneak onboard the airplane and risk serious consequences?" Shawn demanded. Corey sat up slowly and stared at him.

"I trust my wife, but I don't trust Minkus." he said, and Shawn smiled.

"That's the first honest thing you've said for an hour," he laughed.

At the airport, Angela sat in the back rooms barely used except for dangerous criminals. Across from her, a fat cop smacked his gum while his balding partner wrote down everything she said.

"Tell us again how you got on the plane?" the fat one demanded.

"I've told you three times already. I got on my costume and strolled on as if I were an actual stewardess. No one stopped me, not at the gate and not on the flight."

"Uh-huh." the skinny one commented, in a thick New York accent. He was so stereotypical that it was almost laughable. All the cop shows Angela had watched had a character just like this one. Unfortunately the shows never prepared her for this, the inquisition, the explaining the stupid act that she had done. After that, she stopped talking. Several questions were fired her, but she didn't budge. Eventually her father got the call she was allowed to make, and the orders came immediately to release her.

The policemen looked disappointed, and threatened her to never use that airlines again, but Angela wasn't stupid. She wouldn't be riding planes for awhile.

She wanted to set out in the city immediately, but she was called over the intercom to answer a phone call. It was her father, who sounded very angry. Angela wondered if he was more mad about calling so early in the morning his time, the bill that it would cost him, or the ridiculous situation she was in. Definitely the latter she decided.

"Hello Daddy." she greeted.

"Angela, would you please explain what is going on? I had to pay the airlines, the police force, and the airport a good deal of money to get you out of there." her father was undoubtedly upset.

"A friend of mine is in serious trouble, Daddy. I had to get on her flight, and there were no more seats left. If I had taken any other flight I would have lost her, and she would be in danger." Angela said slowly, she realized instantly her father would understand. His voice was much friendlier, and he almost laughed after that.

"Well I hope you can help her. Call me later," with a click her father disconnected, and Angela was left to scour the city for her friend. She did not know where Corey and Shawn were, but she did have a friend who lived on the upper west side. Quickly she dug up some change and called her up.

While Topanga rested in her room, silent and remorseful, Minkus called up the orphanage. He set up an appointment for the following morning, and then rubbed his hands together in delight. By 10:00am Topanga would be in love with two new people, her son, and her son's father.


	12. Prepartions

Chapter 12: Preparations

That night, Topanga tossed and turned, and eventually gave up on sleep all together. At dawn she sat in the small kitchenette of Stewart's apartment and sipped a hot cup of coffee. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't straighten out her feelings. She felt pity for Minkus, and guilt for all those years that the kids in school, including herself sometimes, had tormented him. If anyone had known what he was going through, the entire mess she now found herself in would have never happened. Sighing, she glanced over at the phone, and realized now more than ever she needed a friend to talk to. Normally she would talk to Shawn or Angela, but she had no idea where in New York they were. So she made a bold decision and dialed.

After only two rings, someone answered. "Hello, I'm single and very available. How may I help you?"

Topanga smiled in spite of herself. "Eric? Is that you?"

"Oh hey Topanga! How are you? I haven't seen you around for a few days. As a matter of fact, I haven't seen Corey or Shawn either. What have you guys been up to?" Eric responded cheerfully. As Topanga had hoped, he did not mind that it was five in the morning, or that his brother's wife was calling him. In fact, he sounded like he didn't know they weren't on campus, which wouldn't surprise her considering how quickly they left.

"I'm not doing so well, and neither is anyone else. You see, we're in New York.."

"You're in the Big Apple?! Seriously! I thought you guys were still here. That would make since, because when I went to your dorm yesterday, no one was in there, and Corey's secret stash of money was gone." Eric interrupted. Then he paused and asked the inevitable question, "Why are you guys in New York?"

"We're here to see Stewart and I's child." Topanga answered bluntly. It was coming naturally to her now. It didn't seem that odd at all that the biggest dork at John Adam's High School fathered her child. Wait, yes it still felt a little weird.

"Oh okay. Who's Stewart? Wait, you had a kid? But…" Eric's voice trailed off, and Topanga knew she had completely lost him.

"Minkus and I had a baby when I was in high school. No one knew about it except for us until yesterday when Minkus came out of nowhere and told everyone." Topanga explained.

"Minkus? The shrimpy little kid in Corey's class? I always wondered what happened to him. Let me guess, he came up with an new computer that is making him a lot of money." Eric laughed.

"Actually he's a high class lawyer, breezed through law school and through college. And yes, he's making a lot of money. I'm in his apartment right now."

"Cool! Does he have a big collection of Star Trek merchandise?" Eric asked excitedly, disregarding Topanga's news about her child.

Topanga paused and looked around the room. Then she spotted a small stack of Star Trek tapes in the corner and then relayed the news to Eric.

"I figured he was a Trekkie. Can I talk to Corey?" Eric said.

"No, he's not with me. I don't know where he is," Topanga admitted.

"That settles it then, I'm coming up there. You can't just go have a dork baby and then loose my brother! This conversation is over." Eric's happy tone switched to a very angry one in a matter of seconds. A click on the other end of the phone line ended Topanga's conversation and left her feeling worried. Eric had no idea where anyone was, much less the means of getting up to New York. He had less money than Corey and Shawn and also less sense.

What Topanga didn't know was that Eric had Jack, who had the money to get them a flight to New York immediately. Before Minkus was even thinking about getting up, both were in route to New York to find Topanga and their brothers. They also had a pager number, which Corey had borrowed from Jack early the day before as a joke. Jack paged Corey before they left and then talked to him on the payphone for a few minutes. Eric then had an address and directions to where Corey and Shawn were staying, and would be in New York by eight o'clock.

Until then, Eric tried to tell Jack about the phone call he got from Topanga. "She sounded like she wanted to talk but I told her that I would not speak with a woman who had a dork father her illegitimate child and then lost my brother in New York city."

Jack shook his head in bewilderment. "Topanga had a baby?"

"Yeah, with Minkus of all people," Eric said, in the same I-don't-believe-it-tone.

"Not Stewart Minkus!" Jack exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, I think that was his first name. It sounds like a dorky first name. Who names their kid Stewart?"

"Well, if he turns out to the best lawyer of all time, then it doesn't matter what his first name is! That man is a certified genius. He finished college at Harvard in a year and law school in eighteen months, after he graduated early from high school. That's one smart illegitimate child!" Jack admitted with a smile.

Eric seemed stumped. "Well, you can bet that Minkus junior is not going to be football captain."

Across the city Corey and Shawn were surfing the web for Stewart's law firm. They scrolled through the findings and wrote down two possible firms where a Stewart Minkus worked. The addresses of both firms meant nothing to them, but they hoped it would for a cab driver. Both buildings were located on the same street, but they probably wasn't saying much for New York City. The streets in the city were practically endless.

"We can visit later on this morning, right now I need a nap," Corey admitted, as he let out a big yawn. Shawn nodded in agreement. He looked around the cyber café, which was just starting to get its first visitors of the morning, sharp businessmen in suits. After walking a few blocks they had discovered the café had computers around sunrise. It took awhile for Corey to get out of the hotel, and then it took awhile to find the café. The computer they had used was the owner's lab top, a high tech model that never Corey or Shawn had ever seen before. They had begged the manager to let them use it, telling them all about their situation. Mr. Johnson the manager of the café was not surprised by the story at all. He treated it like an everyday occurrence, which made both Shawn and Corey wonder if he had lent his computer out before.

It was five thirty when Corey and Shawn drifted off to sleep at the hotel, with the alarm set at ten for their trip to the firms.

Angela arrived at her friend Kelsey's apartment that night at one o'clock in the morning. Kelsey was happy to see her, and wanted all the details of her unexpected trip to New York. Unwilling to share the correct information, Angela made something up about business with an attorney named Stewart Minkus.

"You're hear to see Stewart Minkus? What a small world I used to date him! He's a weird character, charming, and smart, but still odd. His firm isn't far from here, I could take you by on my way to work. I have to get up at six, so we better get some sleep." Kesley explained to her, and then showed her to the guest bedroom and the bathroom. Angela borrowed some pajamas and went straight to bed. She was too exhausted to think of anything other than sleep.

Kesley was shaking her to get up all too soon, and she slowly got ready to leave. All she had were the clothes she wore on the plane, but Kesley loaned her some extra things, after Angela told her that the airport 'lost' her luggage. All too soon they were heading off towards the Minkus firm. Angela spotted in almost immediately, a huge metallic skyscraper that stood taller than any buildings in the area. She imagined that tours ran through it to get to the top level and see a bird's eye view of New York.

"Here it is. I'm running kind of late so I'll have to catch up with you later. Meet me in the café across the street from here for lunch, okay?" Kelsey said, before she jogged off towards a subway enterance. Angela could only nod and make her way for the revolving doors.

The lobby was huge, complete with leather couches and gold rimmed coffee tables. A huge courtsey desk took up the back wall, with many busy secretaries answering phones. Angela cautiously made her way to one of them and requested an appointment with Mr. Minkus.

"He's not in today, but I can give you a private phone number if you would like," the secretary answered after Angela insisted that it was urgent that she see Mr. Minkus. Kelsey's business suit made her seem as high class as he was, and she sent a thousand mental thanks to her for it. With her plane clothes Angela would not have even been allowed to enter the building.

Angela accepted the number and called on her cell phone immediately after leaving the building.

"Hello?" Topanga answered, sounding very hoarse, and very tired.

"Topanga, its Angela. Where are you?" Angela responded, glad she didn't have to go through Minkus.

"I don't really know. He's getting up, I really can't talk long." Topanga said, and Angela could hear the shower going off in the background. "I think we're going to the orphanage this morning at ten o'clock. The name of it is on the post-it note here by the phone. After the appointment, you can meet me outside, we should be done by eleven. Please don't come before that. It's called St. Peter's Home, I don't know the address. I have to go." With that Topanga hung up, and Angela was left with no money, no key to get into to Kelsey's apartment, and a name. She called up information, got directions, and began to walk.

Minkus emerged from the shower not long after Topanga got off the phone. He gave her a towel and a change of clothes, from a lady 'friend' of his. No doubt the rather low cut red dress was from a high class girlfriend of his. It was better than the wrinkled mess she had on, and Topanga quickly showered off and put it on.

When she came back out to the kitchenette Minkus had served her up an omelet with lots of cheddar cheese on top. Her stomach growled and Topanga realized she hadn't eaten for a long time. Slowly she ate it, already feeling the affects of getting no sleep for almost a full day. Twenty four hours ago she still slept soundly next to Corey, without a worry or care on her mind. Now she was being pushed out the door by Minkus, and lead to a cab where they would go meet her son.


	13. Adam

Author's Note: I'm almost done with it! Thanks for you patience, I've been trying really hard to find time to write. Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing to tell me how I'm doing, it really helps!

Chapter 13: Adam

Eric and Jack wasted no time in going straight from the airport to the hotel where Cory and Shawn were staying. Jack encountered a break through on the flight, using his lab top; he had located the orphanage where a four year old Adam, a native to Pittsburgh, had recently been moved to. He had found it on the new additions part of the sight, which also claimed that Adam was being considered for adoption by a prominent New York lawyer, Stewart Minkus. The orphanage was actually not far from the hotel, according to the map on the website. If they were to get there by nine, there was a chance that they could see Adam before the adoption process was complete.

Jack called the hotel room immediately after landing, and Eric reminisced about a young boy he had been close to adopting when he was in high school. He remembered how adamantly his parents had wanted him to go to a stable home, where a young mother and father could care for him. It broke Eric's heart to let the little boy go, but he knew he had no other option.

The terminal was easy to get through, and in no time a taxi had let them out in front of the orphanage. Not ten minutes later Cory and Shawn jogged up, clearly on Jack's directions on how to get to the orphanage.

"Let's do this," Corey said, and marched up the steps and into the neat lobby. The entire front wall, by the entrance, were windows full of fingerprints from the countless of orphans that visited prospective parents in the lobby.

There was only one woman at the front desk, smacking hot pink gum and painting her nails in the same color. She raised her eyes to meet Cory's. "What?"

"I'd like to see a little boy named Adam. He's about four…" Cory said.

"I know who Adam is," interrupted the secretary, in a drawling Brooklyn accent. She pushed a button behind the desk. "This guy wants to see Adam,"

Instantly a neat little man came out from the back room. "Mr. Minkus!" he beamed with an I-want-to-suck-up-to-you smile. "You're early; we weren't expecting you for another hour!"

Cory shot a glance at Shawn, who shrugged. "Well, Minkus, it looks like you're early,"

The man ushered Cory to a back room, which was very elegant, and probably the man's personal lounge. On a gold-rimmed coffee table sat a complicated looking toy with beads and lots of loops to push the beads around. It reminded Cory of one of his favorite toys as a child.

"Adam isn't ready yet, but he'll be in shortly." the man promised and bustled away through a side door. The room was very quiet, so quiet that Cory could hear the slow ticking of the clock on the wall across the room. It read nine o'clock exactly.

Cory felt a sudden wave of exhaustion, and dozed off on the couch until he heard the door open fifteen minutes later. A small boy, the one from the dreadful photograph that Minkus had shown him the day before had entered the room. He seemed sort of skittish, and afraid of every sudden move Cory made.

"Hi I'm Cory." Cory said, with a friendly smile.

"You're not the man from before," Adam pouted, sitting down beside Cory on the couch.

"You're very intelligent, just like your mother." Cory laughed.

"I don't have a mother." the boy insisted, and began playing with the toy on the table. He didn't seem all the upset about it.

"Sure you do. She's coming to see you today with the man from before." Cory told him, but the thought of Minkus made his stomach turn. Of course, the fact that he was supposed to be Minkus made him even sicker. Then Cory reached for a heart bead and moved it through the largest loop. Adam turned and stared at him, as if the idea of an adult playing with a toy was a new concept for him.

"Do you like cars?" Adam asked, hurrying across the room to pick up a fire engine. Cory hadn't even noticed the big crate of toys in the corner, but clearly Adam knew the location very well. Cory wondered on how many different occasions Adam had been brought to this room.

"I love cars," Cory admitted, watching Adam roll the fire engine back and forth across the table.

"You like police cars?" Adam inquired, pointing towards an abandoned cop car by the crate. Cory nodded enthustically, and soon became engrossed in the childhood game of rolling cars randomly around the room.

"I want to adopt Adam," Shawn said, after an unsuccessful beating around the bush tactic with the lady at the desk.

The secretary looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm sorry, you can't. Mr. Minkus is already going through the adoption process and has placed a large amount of money in our care to see that Adam is adopted to no other person."

Shawn cursed Minkus silently, as he stood at the desk. It was nearly ten, and the real Minkus was not far away. He wanted to desperately to see Topanga's little boy, as did Jack and Eric but that didn't seem possible.

"Does Adam have any friends that we should know about, that we can talk to?" Shawn demanded. He knew it was a long shot, the boy was only four, and had been in the orphanage's care for about three weeks.

"Actually he does get along with this other little boy, Daniel. They do everything together, arts and crafts, nap time…" the secretary said, not looking at Shawn but typing on the computer.

"Can we see him?" Shawn questioned, his impatience getting the better of him.

"Yeah sure," the secretary said and pushed another button behind the desk. The same little neat man appeared, thought slightly disappointed that it was just Shawn and not a big spender like Minkus.

"Please follow me," he said, and walked quickly through the door that Cory went through. This time, Shawn did not have to go alone; Jack and Eric were permitted to come along. They passed the lounge where Cory and Adam played, and then went to a smaller room with only a few folding chairs and a little table set. Toys littered the floor, from dolls with missing appendages to matchbox cars without wheels. Clearly this room was for the less fortunate orphans. Within minutes, a disgruntled four year old was pushed through the back door.

He appeared alarmed that he was trapped in a room with strangers, showing that he had not gone through this process before, unlike his friend.

"So, are you and Adam friends?" Eric asked, after a few minutes of silence. Daniel looked up, and nodded.

"We're bestest friends," he said, vehemently. Then his eyes watered and he looked down. "The lady said Adam is going away, for good."

"Oh, that's not true," Jack said, and then got a why-did-you-say-that look from Shawn.

"It's not?" the boy looked hopeful, and almost smiled.

"No, you might be going away too, to a place where you can have your own room and see Adam as much as you want," Jack continued. Shawn pulled on his brother's sleeve.

"You can't be saying that we're going to adopt this kid, we don't even know him. He doesn't know us, it would be awkward." Shawn hissed in Jack's ear.

"And you can't be suggesting that we'd leave him here, in an orphanage without his best friend." Jack responded and turned back to the boy with a smile. Eric settled himself on the floor and began playing with a toy. Daniel became entranced and sat across from Eric, while they rolled a giant nerf ball back and forth, Jack and Shawn argued about adoption.

In the end, Jack won, and went triumphantly back to the desk to begin the paperwork.

Topanga's cab arrived about thirty minutes after they left the apartment, after a tedious trip through downtown Manhattan traffic. She had dozed off in the beginning, but the loud honking in the intersections had woken her up. Now she had to prepare to meet her son, and she looked like a wreck.

Stewart Minkus appeared very business like with his hair slicked back and his suit wrinkle free. He strolled into the orphanage like he owned the place, which Topanga guessed that he probably did.

"I'm here to see a little boy named Adam. I believe I had an appointment." Minkus told the secretary at the desk.

"Very funny sir. Mr. Minkus, who did in fact have the appointment, arrived about an hour ago, and is already in a meeting with Adam," the secretary told him, after popping her gum a few times in annoyance.

Topanga was startled when she heard this, and then she remembered her phone call with Eric. He might have found the orphanage and arrived from the airport around nine o'clock. He would have been mistaken for Minkus because no one really knew what Minkus looked like. Thinking fast, Topanga stepped up behind a furious Minkus and said, "Oh, Mr. Minkus is a friend of ours. He's family."

The secretary rolled her eyes and pushed a button. The neat man appeared and took them back. When the door to the lounge swung open Topanga was shocked to see Cory, not Eric, back in the room playing with a little boy. The door shut behind them, practically locking the three of them in the room together.

"MATTHEWS!" bellowed Minkus, who marched over to Cory's side, face red in anger. Adam looked up, and was frightened. He whimpered and hid behind Cory. Their game of cars had ended when Topanga and Minkus arrived.

Cory leaped up and pulled Minkus aside. "I don't care how pissed off you are Minkus. Don't make a scene in front of the kid! For Christ's sake it's not big deal. I wanted to see my wife's kid, I found the orphanage and they let me see him." spat Cory.

Topanga kneeled close to her son. "Don't worry about him," Topanga said, pointing to Minkus, "He's just a little grumpy."

Adam broke into a smile. "Do you want to play cars?"

"Of course," Topanga replied, still in shock that the adorable little boy in front of her was the baby she had given up four years ago. She reached for the police car but the boy took it away.

"That's Cory's car. You can have this one," Adam said and gave her a convertible. While they played, and got to know each other, Minkus and Cory were close to a fight.

"How dare you impersonate me and try to steal my son! Topanga and I are on the verge of starting a family here, something you wouldn't understand." Minkus snarled.

"You think I don't understand family? Topanga's my wife and we've been happily married for two years. Just because she had a love child with you doesn't mean that she's now madly in love with you. Family isn't about blood, Minkus, which I suppose you wouldn't understand. Family is about love, and even though I have only talked to Adam an hour, I know that I love him, and he at least likes me. Then you, his dad, waltzes in, scares the crap out of him, and then is expecting to turn around and have him worship you. After all, what four year old wouldn't love a cold hearted money-loving lawyer who tried to break up a happy family just because he was bullied years ago?" Cory said.

Minkus stared him, at a loss for words. "Well," he said after awhile, "it doesn't matter how much you love him, in a few hours the adoption process will be complete."

"Not if I have a say in it." Cory threatened.

"Oh, I'm sure the orphanage would love to turn a child over to a couple of students at Penbrook, who don't hold steady jobs and who still live in a small apartment. I, however, hold a very high income job, and own a flat in a very upscale neighborhood. With me Adam could receive the best education available, not some public school nightmare that he would go through with you." Minkus answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go have a word with the supervisor. He can't just let any slug in here thinking he's a Minkus,"

Cory blew him off and walked over to Topanga and Adam. He sat down next to her, and watched them play for a few minutes.

"I'm glad you came Cory," she said softly, after Adam ran off to find a new car to play with. Topanga turned to her husband with tears in her eyes.

"I'm glad I came too," Cory said, smiling grimly. He wanted so badly to hold her, but he couldn't, not until she was ready.

"I don't want Adam going with Minkus, I can't leave them alone together. Stewart was right, now that I've met him, I never want to let him go." Topanga said, tears falling down her cheeks. She prayed that she wouldn't have to leave Cory so that she could stay with her child. She prayed that the adoption wouldn't go through. Unconsciously she leaned on Cory's shoulder, knowing that it might be the last moment they had together as husband and wife.

Cory slipped his arm around her. "Minkus won't get Adam, I have a plan to make sure of that." he assured her.

"Cory? I promise I'll never keep something like this from you ever again," Topanga whispered into Cory's shoulder. She hoped that Cory's plan would work, because spending the rest of her life with Minkus was not what she wanted to do.


	14. Angela's Idea

Authors Note: I'm almost finished! I'm still working out the ending, but it should be up shortly. If it's not, I'm sorry, I'm going on vacation soon and it might be awhile after that. Thanks for reading and being so patient with me, I know this story's taking an incredibly long time to complete!!

Chapter 14: Angela's idea

"I want to adopt him," Jack said breathlessly to the secretary at the front desk. She perked up for the first time all morning and then buzzed for the head of the orphanage. This time, a very sophisticated lady walked through the side door, already grinning about the future adoption.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Grise. I hear you want to adopt Daniel. He's one of our longest residents. He's been living here since birth. He's never been in foster care, much less in a real home, which I'm sure you can provide for him." the woman said, shaking Jack's hand firmly. She escorted him to her office, where he was handed a mountain of paper work and one pen that refused to work well. Mrs. Grise did not make small talk, she simply typed at her computer and asked him questions like "Have you ever committed a felony?" Jack took a deep breath, looked at the clock which flashed 11:10 at him in neon lights before beginning the long adoption process.

Minkus stormed out to the desk only five minutes later and demanded to see Mrs. Grise.

"No can do," the secretary said in monotone. She offered no other information and began fielding calls for the orphanage. Stewart leaned across the desk and grabbed the phone. With a violent tug he ripped it from the wall.

"It's very important that I speak to your boss. Stewart Minkus will not be made a fool of!" he said through clenched teeth. His maneuver had frightened the secretary enough that she buzzed Mrs. Grise over the intercom. She tried to sound normal as she told Mrs. Grise that there was a matter that she had to attend to immediately in the lobby.

Then, white faced, she went back to the computer. Minkus still held on to the phone for emphasis. He didn't let go until Mrs. Grise appeared from her office.

"What is it Maureen?" she snapped, before seeing Minkus. Her expression changed completely as she tried sucking up to him. "Mr. Minkus, how pleasant it is to see you."

"What kind of security system do you have here, Mrs. Grise? Do you screen people who walk in at all or do you let any Joe off the street back to see the children, despite their background. You are lucky a rapist didn't get in here today Mrs. Grise." growled Minkus. He glared at her and watched her crumble.

She stuttered around for words before she regained her good sense. "I don't follow, Mr. Minkus,"

"You were aware of my meeting with the boy this morning, correct? I sent you a large check to ensure that no one else adopts Adam, and certainly no one else comes to visit him." Stewart continued in an icy voice. He was tired of being messed with, particularly by his childhood tormentor Cory Matthews.

Mrs. Grise nodded her head, "Mr. Minkus, no one else had seen the boy since then. I respect your wishes."

"Clearly you do not! When I arrived today and went back to see Adam, the secretary said that Mr. Minkus had already arrived and had been back in the lounge for an hour! One complete hour with no interference! I did not arrive any earlier than 9:45 am, Mrs. Grise. A complete stranger had walked in and taken my appointment!" By this point Minkus was shouting. Mrs. Grise had gone completely white. She shot a look at Maureen, who had yet to touch the phone.

"I'm so sorry, I will send security to take care of it immediately. " Mrs. Grise promised and went to the intercom. Instantly two burly security officers appeared and were dispatched to the lounge. Cory would have no warning the officers escorted him out of the building hopefully, thought Minkus, by force.

There was one more matter Minkus wanted to take care of, and that was finalizing the adoption. He knew that if he had custody of the child then she would stay in New York with him. The adoption had to be finished before it was too late.

Cory and Topanga's moment was interrupted by a knock on the lounge door. Startled, Topanga went to open it, only to be pushed aside by two security officers. "Sir, you'll need to come with me. We have orders to escort you from the premises." one said. Cory was then grabbed by the arm and ushered out the door.

He cast a look back at Topanga, who stood speechless by the door, unsure of what to do. Adam toddled over to her and asked her where Cory was going. Topanga didn't answer, she didn't know.

When Cory entered the lobby he found a triumphant Minkus standing there with a very dignified woman, Cory assumed correctly that she was in charge.

"How dare you assume my identity and try to steal my child!" spat Minkus, walking over to Cory, who was pinned helplessly by two guards.

"Honestly Minkus I just wanted to see my wife's child. I never 'assumed' anything." Cory insisted, furious at what Minkus was doing to him.

Without warning, Minkus punched him in the stomach. "The name's Stewart." he growled, as Cory doubled over. "Take him away," he said to the guards like he owned the place.

He probably did, Cory thought as he was thrown out into the street. Clutching his stomach, he almost yelled back a corny threat like 'You'll never get away with this!" but he refrained from doing so. He watched as Minkus told Mrs. Grise that he wanted to finalize the adoption, and then turned away in disgust. Minkus sure did gain muscle, he thought, holding his stomach. As he sat dejectedly against the building, a shadow fell over him. It was Angela, fresh from her long hike from the law firm.

"What are you doing out here?" she demanded, looking inside and seeing Minkus shaking hands with Mrs. Grise.

"I'm not allowed on the premises. Two security officers kicked me out. What can I do?" Cory explained, hardly raising his head.

Angela pulled Cory up. "You can't let him win. Are you sure the adoption is unstoppable?"

"No, I just know it's about to finalized." Cory admitted, unsure of what Angela was getting at.

"Do you think that Minkus did anything illegal with this adoption? Like slip the money under the table, because bribing someone, particularly a government employee working at this government run orphanage is illegal." Angela asked, starting to pace.

"I honestly don't know," responded Cory.

"Let's pretend that he did, because I wouldn't put it past him. This place is easy to get into, seeing as how they didn't even check your identification when you went to see Adam. I have a plan, but it involves a little role playing, which we might need money for. Would you mind getting some out of an ATM? I saw one about a block west of here." Angela instructed.

Cory knew he didn't have much money left, but if the plan worked (whatever it was) he could get Topanga back, and that was worth all the money in the world. He nodded, and followed Angela's directions as she went inside to see Shawn and all that he knew about Adam's adoption.

"Let's get the adoption finalized," Minkus told Mrs. Grise after Cory had been thrown out. She was still shocked about the punch, and how quickly Minkus recovered from his outburst. Mrs. Grise tried to shake it off quickly as well.

"I'm afraid I'm working on an adoption currently, which requires my services. When I'm through with it I'll be happy to finish yours." she said cheerfully. Minkus looked very displeased with this, but Mrs. Grise stood firm. She had only a little more to do with Daniel's adoption, and he came before Adam having never before been placed in another's care.

Daniel was more of a troubled child than Adam, and therefore hard to place. Adam could be adopted by anyone; he was friendly and precocious, what most people wanted in a four year old. Daniel needed to come first. She sent Minkus back to the lounge and rejoined Jack right as he finished the paperwork.

"I'm sorry about that," she said with a toothy smile. Jack waved it off and handed her the papers.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to go back with Daniel while you check it all out," he said, and quickly excused himself.

When he entered the backroom, he found that Angela had joined them and talking quietly with Shawn in the corner. Eric was still rolling the nerf ball with Daniel. "The adoption's almost done," Jack said with a smile.

For the first time all day, Daniel smiled too. He knew that he was going home soon, and would see his best friend as much as he wanted. Only the adults wished they could know the same.

Shawn had told Angela exactly what she wanted to hear. She met up with Cory soon after and they began to put their plan into action. If all went right, Adam would never fall into the hands of Mr. Stewart Minkus.


	15. Incrimination

Author's note: Thanks for being so patient while I was away on vacation! I appreciate your reviews they really help tell me how I'm doing! This chapter took me awhile to write, I'm having some difficulties with the ending, but it should be up as soon as possible! The next few weeks are really busy for me, so bare with me!

Chapter 15: Incrimination

"Do you remember the plan?" Angela asked Cory for the thousandth time as they walked towards the orphanage. Cory stopped and gave Angela a look over his cheap 'designer' sunglasses he had recently purchased from a street vendor toting a trash bag and a nervous look. Cory had gotten a deal on the shades because a cop was coming by and the guy had to go.

"Right," Angela said, shaking her head. She had only instructed Cory every block they had walked away from the orphanage about how she would take care of ruining Minkus' adoption. Angela just hoped it would all work, the proof of everything would be difficult, but she hoped that a threat would be enough to stop the whole process. She also hoped that Cory could slip past the guards and get to Topanga before Minkus put on his moves. Angela was still blushing at her naivety in leading Minkus straight to Penn State. It was partly her fault, and she had to stop it the best she could.

At precisely twelve thirty, Angela, and Cory walked back into the orphanage. No one recognized Cory with his mock-designer and the cheap suit and tie they had purchased from a block down. Cory's hair had even been changed with a little hair gel from the local Walgreens. Angela carried a very business-like brief case she had borrowed from her friend and walked with the air of someone important.

The secretary took notice, and perked up as Angela approached her. "I'm here to speak to your boss on financial matters," she said in crisp, professional voice. She too had purchased 'designer' sunglasses costing only a few dollars.

"Mrs. Grise, there's people here to see you on money business," Maureen said into the intercom. Instantly Mrs. Grise emerged from her office, caught off guard and a little nervous.

"Come in to my office for a minute, Mrs…?" Mrs. Grise said in a strained voice.

"It's Ms. Moore," Angela answered abruptly, as if she was annoyed that Mrs. Grise did not know any better. In actuality, Angela was racking her mind to think of all the tactics used by blackmailers in Grisham novels and in movies. So far, she had a few good lines, and she hoped it would be enough to intimidate Mrs. Grise.

Meanwhile, Cory slipped back into the lounge to see Topanga. He was reaching for the doorknob when he glanced in and saw Minkus cuddling a more reluctant Topanga. Something inside of Cory snapped, and all he saw was red. In a matter of seconds he had barged into the room and tackled Minkus. He began punching him like he had never punched someone before. He had always been playful wrestling with Eric as a kid, but he just couldn't take it anymore. There was blood on his hands, and someone screaming in his ear but Cory couldn't stop. At one poin the felt Topanga's hand restraining him, but he shrugged her off and kept on going. It wasn't until a burly security guard was called in, that Cory finally was ripped from Minkus. Black and blue, the surprised Stewart struggled to see, but both his eyes were swollen shut. Cory's breath came in spurts and he slowly began to realize what he had done. Topanga stared at him, shocked tears streaming down her face with one arm unconsciously around her sobbing son. Adam, who had almost warmed up to him early also gave him a look of despise as Cory was jerked around and once again thrown out into the street.

He fell across the pavement and skidded into the gutter. The security guard spit at him and then turned to go back inside. For awhile, Cory didn't feel like moving. If he thought things were bad before, they were gone to hell now. Slowly he pulled himself off and began walking randomly away from the orphanage. He had his chance to get Topanga back and then he had blown it by letting his anger consume him. Wiping the blood off his knuckles, Cory couldn't help but smirk. No one could tell him that Minkus didn't deserve it.

Back in the office, Angela began telling Mrs. Grise, in the most intelligent way she could manage that she knew about the bribing Minkus had done to ensure that Adam was adopted to no one else. She could bring it to a lawyer, she had eye witnesses (Shawn) and she could get bank records with permission of the lawyer.

"In short, I have serious charges to bring on to the orphanage, and just me, I have the ability and means to do it." Angela paused, watching Mrs. Grise pale slowly. She had Mrs. Grise listening intently. "There is a way I could destroy the evidence, and let this all slide."

Angela took her glasses of slowly and smiled for emphasis. Mrs. Grise nodded as a signal for Angela to continue. "You would need to terminate the adoption of Adam to Mr. Minkus and transfer paperwork to Adam's birth mother, Topanga Matthews. She is currently in school but is already in happy marriage. If there was anyway Adam could be given to Topanga upon her completion of college…"

"I don't understand you, Ms. Moore. You want me to end an adoption that would place Adam in a stable environment to save him for a few years to give to an unemployed just out of school girl?" Mrs. Grise said slowly, as if she had outsmarted Angela. Suddenly, Mrs. Grise gained a new air of confidence.

"I have evidence that you took bribes, which is very illegal." Angela argued. She was loosing her edge, and beginning to sound like the whiny college student she was.

Mrs. Grise smiled warmly. "You can gather all the evidence you like, and if it is really as substantial as you claim, then I will see you in court. Until then, I imagine a smart woman such as yourself can find the door?"

Not long after Angela left to find a lawyer, Jack came back into the lobby to make sure that the adoption was done. On the way out he bumped into Topanga, who was wringing her hands and looking upset. She caught Jack's sleeve. "Could you get Shawn and Eric for me, its really important."

"Sure, Jack poked his head through and beckoned for his brother and his friend. Both appeared in the hallway looking anxious.

"It's about Cory," Topanga began, playing with her wedding ring and glancing at the ground.

"What happened to him?" Shawn demanded immediately, before the other two could let it sink in. All could tell it wasn't good, because it was so difficult for Topanga to say.

"Well, first Minkus had him thrown out by two security guards. I didn't see him for awhile and I figured he went back to the hotel, what else could he do? But I was wrong. About an hour later, he comes barging in and tackles Minkus. He practically beat him senseless." Topanga explained slowly.

"Alright!" cheered Shawn, smiling.

"That's my brother," laughed Eric, having great fun seeing Cory beat the crap out of Minkus. Only Jack picked up on Topanga's alarm.

"That doesn't sound like Cory at all. Are Minkus and Adam okay? Jack questioned.

"Yes, Adam was a little upset but I calmed him down and Minkus washed his face in the bathroom. I never imagined that when I married Cory I would have to call guards on him to throw him out. He's such a gentle natured man." Topanga admitted softly, her eyes watering.

"Even the kindest guy in the world would snap when he had to deal with all the things that Cory had to these last few days." Shawn growled. "All these years you've known each other and he just found out about your rendevous with Minkus. What were you thinking?!"

Topanga began to cry, but that didn't stop Shawn from continuing. "He was willing to make it work, Topanga. That's why we came up here. You know he would have made a better father then that cold hearted bastard in there."

"That's enough, Shawn," Jack warned, giving his brother a dirty look.

"Don't tell me what to do, Jack. You come in here acting like the voice of reason and sticking up for that slimly piece of trash when he finally got what he deserved! What kind of man purposely sets out to destroy the lives of two very happy people just because he was teased a little in middle school! It's not like we didn't try to help Minkus become accepted either! He acts like we pulled a _Carrie_ and dumped pig's blood on him at prom! I'm out of here."

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Jack demanded, grabbing Shawn's sleeve roughly.

"To find my friend and make sure he doesn't get hurt. Unlike some people here I actually care about what Cory could get himself into," After another look at Topanga, Shawn stormed out.

Topanga made a move to follow but Jack held her back. "Go make sure Adam is alright, and that all three of you can just go home and let this settle down. Cory will be fine, I'll call you when we find him." Jack instructed and gave Topanga the hotel's name that they were staying at. With that Eric went back to entertain Daniel, Jack went to go make sure that the adoption was complete and Topanga went back to Minkus and Adam. As Daniel rolled him the ball, Eric prayed that Shawn would find Cory before anything happened to him. He also hoped that Topanga could see that she could still see Adam and be with Cory, but as unreasonable as everyone was being, he knew the odds of that were unlikely.


	16. Waiting

Author's Note: I am sorry I took so long getting this chapter up, between vacations and getting ready for school, I have been completely swamped! Thanks for being patient and I really appreciate your reviews, you have no idea how helpful they've been through this whole thing!

Chapter 16: Waiting

Shawn scanned the busy Manhattan streets nervously, having no clue where his friend would be. He checked out a few bars near the orphanage but no one had seen Cory. Not that Cory would normally drink but he did get into alcohol once when he and Topanga fought. That night burned vividly in Shawn's mind as he began to get anxious. Cory could do stupid things when the situation turned ugly, and things had gone ugly days ago.

"If I were Cory, and I had just seen Topanga with Minkus, where would I go?" Shawn whispered to himself as he stopped walking for a minute. Then it hit him. "I wouldn't stay in Manhattan; I would want to go back to Pittsburgh right away,"

Shawn quickly hailed, cab, and took off towards the nearest airport, trying to stop his friend from once again making the biggest mistake of his life. He just hoped that Jack would not screw things up with Topanga while he was gone.

Eric held Daniel's hand as the attendant gathered whatever belongings the little boy had. He had decided that Daniel needed to leave; he had been in the orphanage long enough. Already Eric imagined the fun filled day they would have first in Central Park then at the zoo. Though Eric was unfamiliar with the city and suspected that Daniel had already been to those places he still wanted to do something that would keep Daniel happy and keep his mind off the disappearance of his brother. Like Shawn, he felt very angry with Jack for stopping Topanga from finding Cory. If Topanga were the one to show up wherever Cory may be that would show his brother how much she cared, if Shawn showed up wherever Cory was than that would show that things had not changed at all.

"When can I play with Adam again?" Daniel asked as Eric began walking out the door. The little boy looked back in the office where his best friend was playing ball with himself.

"I don't know, sometime soon I hope," Eric answered, and then pulled the boy away. Eric began to talk excitedly about his plans and soon his enthusiasm, despite how fake it was, caught on and the boy began to smile.

"You both want custody of the child?" Mrs. Grise questioned, a little frustrated since she already had the paperwork to give Minkus sole custody.

"That's right," Minkus replied crisply. Topanga sat next to him, rigid and almost in a comatose state. She had said nothing since she had spoken with Jack, even to her child. Minkus hoped that once they were all home then he could change her mind about not speaking.

"Very well, this might take a few minutes," sighed Mrs. Grise, and she began sending in a request for a double custody form. As it was printing, she sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples. The day had been stressful for her as well. Never had she had such a disruptive, well paying client.

Minkus seemed anxious to have it signed and he practically grabbed it out of the printer while the ink was still wet. He skimmed through it quickly and signed with a flourish at the bottom of the page. Then he handed the pen to Topanga, but she made no move to take it from him.

"Darling you have to sign, this is why we're here," Minkus urged gently.

Topanga was startled at the sound of Minkus's voice and she fell out of her dreamy state. Ripping the pen from his hand, she signed at the bottom as well. Minkus broke into a smile as she did so, and practically laughed when Mrs. Grise took it off to be finalized. She left the room for a few minutes promising to be quick.

"Don't ever call me that again," snapped Topanga, jumping up from the chair. "I do not love you, how could I? You destroyed me and you destroyed my life and everyone I care about. I love Adam, and you played on that so that you could have the revenge you always dreamed of. You're probably the sickest, twisted person I've ever met,"

Minkus just sat there and smiled. "That may be, but I'm also the sickest most twisted father of your only child. Adam deserves to have a family that works together, and lives together; I believe you mentioned that earlier."

"He already does," Topanga shot back. "He has a father who loves him more than anyone else could, even though he's not his father by birth. Cory and I work together, and we love each other, we're Adam's family. You are just going to be the dad he sees on holidays and weekends."

"You forget we have joint custody. There is no way that is legal for you to take Adam with you back to Pen brook. According to our agreement, you must stay in New York. Joint custody means we both are legally guardians of Adam at all times. The arrangement you are referring to would be one of a divorce. There's no way we can be divorced if we're not even married yet."

"Yet? You really think I would marry you? I have the perfect husband right now, I would never leave him for someone as vile as you." Topanga screamed.

"Do you really think your husband still loves you after all that you put him through? You blame me but is it really my fault that Cory took off? He probably believes you left him for me, after all, you did tell him to go home many times." Minkus growled. At the same time, they both noticed Adam who was staring at them both with wide eyes. He came from a home of screaming and now he was going back to one of screaming.

"We can finish this conversation at my apartment," Minkus said slowly. "That way we can give the child time to get used to his new room and we can work this out,"

"Fine," Topanga agreed, although she believed that there was nothing to work out. She just did not want to see Adam hurt. By time, Mrs. Grise returned they were both playing with Adam as if nothing happened at all.

While Eric took off with the child, Jack and Angela stayed pacing in the lobby. Neither knew what to do or where to begin. Cory could be anywhere and so could Shawn, and Angela was reluctant to call her father again and ask him for a favor. He had already saved her from being arrested, and he probably was not in good spirits with her now.

When Topanga and Minkus left with Adam, Angela suggested that they follow them.

"I don't trust Minkus as far as I could throw him," she said.

"Well I need to get back to the hotel in case Shawn finds Cory. Be careful Angela," warned Jack. Then they parted ways.

As soon as Topanga took off in a cab, Angela knew it would be impossible to follow them. Then she remembered Kelsey's connection to Minkus and quickly called up her friend and got directions.

Taking a deep breath, she hailed a cab and prayed that Shawn was having better luck finding Cory.

"He's at the airport, and his flight leaves in a few hours," Shawn's message said when Jack arrived at the hotel room. Jack wanted to scream at his brother for being so unhelpful. It was good that he found Cory but with such vague descriptions as that, it would be hard to locate them. Still he called up Angela and told her what was going on.

"Where are you?" Jack questioned when Angela picked up her phone.

"I'm outside Minkus's apartment. They sound like they are having an argument. I have to keep quiet."

"Shawn found Cory; he's at some airport with some flight that leaves in a few hours." Jack explained.  
"That's really helpful," replied Angela sarcastically.

"That's the best I can do. I will wait here to see if I get more information. If I do I'll call you." Jack promised. Angela agreed that she would remain where she was for Topanga's sake. With that, the call ended and they both began to wait.


	17. The Rescue

Author's Note: I am sorry I took so long getting this chapter up, school has been a nightmare. Thanks for being patient and I really appreciate your reviews, you have no idea how helpful they have been through this whole thing!

Chapter 17: The Rescue

Angela leaned back against the wall in the hallway, straining hard to listen to what was being said on the other side. She could hear Topanga's voice reach a higher, unnatural pitch from time to time, and what sounded like a firm, reasonable tone from Minkus occasionally. She heard nothing from the little boy, and hoped for a few seconds he heard nothing as well. Angela wasn't even sure she knew what she was doing outside a strange apartment. Did she expect Topanga to walk out, and apologize for keeping her waiting? Topanga didn't even know that Corey was preparing to leave town, never to return. She just hoped the argument would end soon, Topanga would leave the apartment with Adam and they could all go to get Cory from the airport

"You can't pretend it never happened, Topanga! Giving up your son four years back didn't change the fact that we made love. Don't you remember that?" Minkus questioned, after a few minutes of silence between them. Personally, Topanga had never felt so frustrated in her life, and was practically shaking in rage. She met the longing glance of Minkus with a glare.

"I was upset and I was being stupid, Minkus. That was one night, and one huge mistake that I've more than paid for by now," Topanga snapped.

"That's a lie! You told no one but your family, and kept it hidden until I had came in and told everyone everything. Being a coward does not undo what we had! You know I've always cared for you, and you've felt the connection to, that's why you came to me that night. When we were together...."

Topanga kept staring at him like he lost his mind. "When we were together I was upset with Cory! It's never been you, ever, Minkus. Not in sixth grade and certainly not now! It will never be you, so don't even try! That night meant nothing to me!"

In a brash move, Minkus knocked the vase off the table separating him and Topanga. His eyes flashed making him look almost psychotic. Slowly he approached Topanga and in seconds had her tight in his grasp. Squeezing her shoulders as hard as he, could he ask in a dark voice? "Say it again; say that it meant nothing to you! Not the fire, not the kiss, not anything!"

Topanga winced in pain but did not break eye contact. "It meant nothing." Minkus pushed her against the wall, allowing her head to hit solidly.

"You selfish bitch! How can you love that coward and not me! He abused you all through high school but I was always kind! I tried calling you after that night but you blocked my number!" The more Minkus ranted, the more frightened Topanga got. Her head was already pounding and her shoulders hurting from his intense grip. Minkus, though weak as a child, had become a very strong man.

He began kissing her neck, and Topanga wished she had the strength to cry out, but she found her voice had caught in her throat. She felt him move closer towards her, closing the gap between them, and her body tensed. Tears began slipping down her cheeks and began whispering the word 'no' over and over. His hands moved steadily from her shoulders downward, and Topanga prayed to God she could escape this moment. As he undid her skirt, she finally shouted the word, praying to God somebody would hear her. Closing her eyes, she prepared for the worst.

Suddenly Minkus released his grip on her, and fell to the floor. Topanga opened her eyes in utter surprise and found Angela there, vehemently holding a law book. Minkus was bleeding from the back of the head, and Topanga wondered how Angela managed to hit him so hard.

Sobbing, Topanga embraced her friend who gave her a tight squeeze and fixed her skirt. "Go outside and have the porter hail you a cab. I'll be down shortly with Adam and your things."

Topanga stared at Angela with a shocked expression, so surprised at what had happened. Numbly she stumbled for the elevator, drying her tears and trying not to reveal what had just happened inside the apartment. The elevator seemed bright and cheery; a reminder that the world Topanga used to know was a normal one, not the hell that her whole life had become in the last few days. By the time the elevator reached the lobby, she felt composed enough to ask the porter to hail her a cab. She diverted her eye contact, and wished that for once the city could be a quiet place, so that she could think without the distractions of the traffic. However, maybe she didn't want to think, because thinking would lead back to what had happened, (or almost happened) in the apartment, and she really didn't feel ready to go back to that scene just yet. How had Angela known when to come in? Why hadn't she come in earlier before any damage was done? From the throbbing in her head and shoulders, Topanga knew she would have bruises and nice lump to show her encounter with Minkus.

Then there was Adam. The poor boy had not been home more than an hour before the fighting and the violence had started. He would undoubtedly wonder why Angela was dragging him away from the house or why the man who had been so nice to him in orphanage was lying on the floor in an unconscious heap. A shudder ran through Topanga as she thought of Minkus, and she hoped that he would be out cold long enough for Angela to escape.

She almost cried in relief as Angela emerged from the building with a very bewildered Adam and her bag. They were safe now; Minkus could not harm them anymore.

Shawn was running through the airport once again trying to find Cory. He hoped that Cory would be in one of the bars before the terminal, not drunk, but remorseful over a glass of beer. He had seen Cory drunk before and prayed that that would not be how he would find his best friend. Frustration and anger built up inside of him, and if he had seen Minkus at that moment, he would have undoubtedly killed him on the spot. There was no restraining everything he felt for the man who had ruined his best friend's happiness for personal gain.

As the hour slipped by Shawn began to grow anxious. He had been in every bar in the airport and there was no sign of his friend. He had watched the terminal for Cory but Cory never showed. Shawn knew for sure that Cory had the ticket to leave but it seemed that he had gone somewhere else beforehand. However, where? Clearly, the hunt for Cory had not ended. Pinning him down to an airport had been easy but the flight did not even begin boarding for two hours. Cory could have checked his bag and gone elsewhere in the big city before leaving. It was deliberately that Shawn called up his brother to tell him the bad news.

Angela hung up her phone angrily. Jack still didn't know what airport that Cory would be leaving from, but whatever airport that was didn't have Cory in it anyway. He was still missing. She glanced at Topanga and Adam who had fallen asleep soon after the taxi started driving. Angela was reluctant to wake them but she needed to know if Topanga had any idea where Cory might have gone to spend his last few hours in New York City.

"Topanga," whispered Angela tapping her friend gently. Topanga jerked violently under her touch and sat up. She took a few minutes to wake up before answering her friend.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea where Cory might be?" Angela demanded.

"We always talked about coming up to New York City and walking around Central Park together, whenever we had the money to come up." Topanga recalled, before her eyes began to water. Another dream that would never come true.

Angela told the driver the change in plans. "I hope you're prepared to walk Topanga, because we don't have long before we'll loose your husband once again." Then Angela called up Jack and told him that they needed to find Cory who might be in Central Park and they would need to split up.

"Start at the entrance closer to you. At the center of the park there's a huge fountain, we'll all meet there as soon as possible,"

Jack agreed and promised to call Eric and Shawn. Angela hoped all would go well so that they could rescue more than one person this day.


End file.
